Rebuild
by Crimson.light.of.Death
Summary: With her powerful mafia family shattered, how will the tenth generation Espinoza sky guardian rebuild her once great empire? Accepting OCs.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: War Begins**

"There is an empire like mafia that exists in Spain, only to ever have women to possess the title of 'boss'. While she was respected by most because of her kindness, she was still just that; a woman of the mafia. She had a title to upkeep, so she was a killer. Her path of blood stretched across the continent of Europe, and if one crossed her path, they would know by those haunting green eyes that she was the feared Spanish lady mafia leader. She never fell in love, no matter how charming her smile was, or how many men dared try to tame her, but she did bear one child; a girl who looked much like her."

"These women were warriors until the end; They all died fighting and protecting what was rightfully theirs, no matter their age or physical condition. The ninth leader must have been nearing her hundredth year when she perished on the battle field. Her daughter had sadly died during childbirth ten years earlier, leaving only the ninth's granddaughter to run her empire. The little girl stepped up to the task though, and seized the mafia with an iron grin despite her young age," reborn shot a look at Tsuna with his great black eyes, "So there is no excuse for you to not be training like a dog. A ten year old female child managed to pass you in succeeding her family."

Tsuna's face turned a light shade of pink and he looked away in embarrassment. _He had to add that last comment…_ it still didn't answer Tsuna's question though. "…But why are we here, Reborn? All the way in Spain…If that family is doing so well, then we can't be here to assist them…"

" You didn't seem to heat me earlier, Tsuna. Gokudera, would you care to repeat me?"

The silver haired teen gave a wide grin, happy to be selected above the rest of the guardians to help his boss. "Anything for Jyuudaime!" He chirped happily, then he began to relay the information the arcobaleno had told them earlier. "This family has been in a massive conflict with other families in Europe since the girl took over; they've wanted to take the family and make the mafia their own and gain all of that power, so to have the Espinoza Famigalia as an ally would only help us in the end since they are so powerful."

The brown haired boy gave a sigh, but looked at the cloud layer below them. The group had flown to Spain to gain an ally…Tsuna supposed that it wasn't a bad idea, but could they take on all the troubles that came along with this woman's family? Only time would tell… The Vongola decimo drifed off into sleep with the chattering of his guardians surrounding him.

They were told of a great empire, not a battlefield and dead bodies scattered everywhere. They were told they'd only be seeking an ally, not witnessing an all out war. The trail of blood and death began with just a body or two, who Tsuna thought were just passed out on the side of the road since no blood was evident, but now that there were more bodies splayed out awkwardly like them, he noticed that their necks were snapped at an awkward angle, and they were pale with their eyes open. As innocent as Tsuna could be, he couldn't compare to his ignorant rain guardian, who seemed chipper and cheery even as they stepped through puddles of blood. The baseball obsessed boy just thought it was some sort of Spanish alcohol, or colored water. He must have not felt the liquid stick against his shoes.

"What happened here…?" Gokudera began, his own pale green eyes wide in confusion.

"…We must have came too late."

"For what-"

"Listen." Tsuna pricked his ears, and he could hear faint clinks not too far off, and see flashes of lightning in the dark distance. He gulped in anxiousness and they picked up the pace to reach the area the clinks sounded from.

They arrived and were greeted with only six bodies, but these bodies were of kids their age, if not younger. Their blank eyes were staring up at them, each color reflecting a look of failure in their dull depths. Each was splayed awkwardly around, some missing a limb or two, some with weapons sticking in their bodies, but they were all missing a finger if not a hand or arm. Faces were contorted into snarls and defiant looks, their weapons of choice clutched in their grasp tightly, even in death.

Tsuna could have wretched right there, but he was distracted by a crowd of moving people not too far away. Erupting in the middle was flicked of a familiar orange flame, but it was obscured by the crowd; that was where the clinks and clashing of metal were coming from. He stepped forward to see what was going on, but the group was disbanded and they flew through the air, their blood scattering about like a rainstorm for a brief second before suddenly stopping. Tsuna opened his eyes, which had been closed in fright as the bodies flew, but he saw no other bodies, only dust. _Dust. _No….Ash. They were petrified, and as they kit the ground, these men were shattered into these particles. He looked up, his brown eyes wide, but the person he expected to see wasn't where he thought she would be. She was nowhere in sight actually. He checked from side to side, and even behind him, but he followed everyone else's gaze up and found where she was: above.

Her long brown hair was lit up by the lively flames that kept her afloat in the air, but it was hard to distinguish anything other than the flickering strands seeing as she was moving around so much, in an attempt to dodge the bodies that came at her. In her hands was a large piece of metal that looked much too big for her size, but she wielded it with grace as she swiped at her incoming assailants. When the flat side of the blade slammed against one of the flying people, who Tsuna assumed were guardians of the opposing families, the man flew into the ground, creating a large crater in the dirt, blood flying from his open lips. Like a stubborn child, he got up and went on the offensive, his blue flames igniting and pushing him back towards the brawl, not even bothering to notice the family behind him.

It was like watching flies buzz around dinner, or watching vultures dive straight in to grab a chunk of road kill, and it was just as horrible to watch seeing her body jerk around in the air every time a rough blow managed to hit her in the face, or every time she was sliced and burned. With as much damage as she received though, she dealt out that much to her enemies, often sending them into the building nearby and beating them with her halberd. She could only stay in the air for so long though, and before long, the constant beating from the powerful guardians sent her flying to the ground. As her back hit the ground, the ground cracked a bit with the impact, and blood sprayed from her lips and across her chin. She gave a groan and couldn't muster the strength to push herself up from her splayed position on the ground. An older man walked up to her, his own sky ring blazing , and grabbed a large handful of her long hair, making her wail and struggle pathetically against his iron grip.

Gokudera could see the pain on his boss's face, and he hated it, especially when he could do something about it. The bomber's greenish eyes narrowed, and he took out a few dynamite sticks and readied them to be lit and thrown by the cigarette in his mouth. But before he could do so, she had managed to escape. Her once long brown locks were locked securely in the man's hand, but the girl was not attached to them. She had taken off, her steps shaky, and her axe no longer visible, but she hadn't gotten very far before she had fallen to the ground, a dagger stuck in her leg. With a wail of pain, she struggled to scramble forward, but a foot on her back forced to halt her escape. She didn't stop struggling though, and she reached forward to grab a weapon within reach when another foot stepped on both of her hands, making her screech in pain. Her small form was reduced to whimpers and wiggles of protest as a sword covered in storm flames was raised high, ready to strike. It was brought down, but was only met with a clang and blue flames.

Yamamoto didn't want to see anyone hurt in this game any longer, and seeing an opening, he went for it. He drew his sword out, the katana covered in his own rain class flames. With careful footwork, he managed to shove the man off of the beaten woman on the ground. His eyes, which were usually wide and shaded a kind brown, were darkened and narrowed in determination. He was only serious when it came to his favorite sport, and when it came to protecting those he cared for. This woman, though he didn't know her, was deemed friendly, or at least, she seemed to need his assistance. After a moment, his narrowed eyes lightened up a bit, and he smiled softly, despite this situation. "Wow," he chimed, "these are some pretty cool decorations out here. They're very realistic!"

The Vongola boss and his remaining guardians gave a sigh and pressed their hands to their faces. Even with death all around him, Yamamoto was oblivious to how dire the situation was. He thought everything was a game still. The man across from the tanned boy scoffed at his opponent's stupidity. Now that flames were lighting up the area, his features were a little more distinguishable. His hair was a messy blond style, like one of the boys in the surfing articles in the sports magazines, but unlike those attractive men, there was a large scar running across his thin lips, which were set into a scowl. His eyes were dark too, maybe not a coal black, but it was close. One hand was stuck in the pocket of his jeans, and his weapon was tapping lazily on his shoulder as if in agitation. "Stupid boy. They're dead."

"They look like it! Great job again! But…I couldn't help but wonder," Yamamoto said as his finger travelled to his lip in thought, "What did she do to make you so angry?"

The blonde boy hissed, his dark leather glove clad fingers tightening around his weapon, and his flames crackling higher as his agitation with the boy rose. This fight wasn't a game, but neither the bodies nor blood convinced the swordsman opposite of him of this fact. "It wasn't what she did specifically that provoked us. It's what she owns that shouldn't be hers that made us attack. Now this conflict isn't yours to interfere in, Vongola. So leave before your blood joins the rest."

"You must have gotten some pigs blood from the market and put it on the lawn too! Such dedication to something is good," He glanced back at Tsuna, curiosity on his face, "Aren't we friends with this Espinoza family now?" Tsuna gave a nod, though, it was weak with the sickness that was beginning to set in, and Yamamoto turned his attention back to the man in front of him. "So what friends do is help each other! So…I guess you're my opponent as long as you want to hurt her?"

The storm guardian narrowed his dark eyes, his ring lighting up with a fierce red flame as he waved his sword in agitation. "If that's what you want, then I'll be glad to oblige-"

Suddenly, a hand was placed on the boy's shoulder "Cyrille. We're here to exterminate the Espinoza, not the Vongola," another voice said, his accent distinctly German and his voice deep and older then the teen in front of The Vongola rain guardian. Cyrille turned his head, his eyes narrowed in anger and his lips set in a scowl and he ripped the older man's pale hand off of his shoulder, his temper flaring.

"Shut your mouth Sabine! We've almost finished this mission that our boss set out for us to do, and you and your stupid family won't stop us from finishing what we started!"

The man, Sabine, glared down at him, his pale blue eyes narrowed slightly and his hands behind his back. He was very delicate looking, unlike the shorter, but bulkier teen in front of him. While his skin and eyes were a pale color, his jet black locks made his sharp, cat like features much harder, and it made him look deadly when paired with his glare. "Now, Cyrille, you stupid boy, don't forget our bosses told us to work together to kill off this family, and it's going to hinder both of us, but it's not worth the fight against these people, so shut up and walk away before I knock you out and drag you away." The two had a glaring contest before the blonde boy gave a hiss and stalked off. The tuxedo clad German gave a grin and followed him as well before throwing a glance at the Vongola. "Don't get involved in these matters, or you will die. You're up against the top three mafia families in Western Europe," he said coldly as he walked off, the rest of his followers walking behind him.

Yamamoto blinked in confusion, and then ran a hand through his dark locks with a grin. "Maa…That wasn't too bad. It seems like the start of a pretty fun game." He heard soft gasps of pain and sadness behind him, and he looked back to see the pale girl whimpering over one of the bodies of the boys, her face contorted with sorrow. Her bruised fingers gently brushed against the tanned boy's face, and she tried to wake him up, but nothing happened, and she soon collapsed next to him, her chest heaving and sobs spilling out fro, deep inside her. It was pathetic to look at, but it wasn't long until she passed out on the bloody ground from the sheer exhaustion, both mentally and physically. The tan boy gave a sigh and looked at Tsuna. "…How are we going to get her back…?"

* * *

Alrighty. That's that. But guess what? It's OC submission time :D You have to PRIVATE MESSAGE ME these OC's with the proper Title (KHR OC SUBMISSION: (insert Name here)). I will be pairing characters up, so keep that in mind, fan girls. So here we go.

Name: First and last, middle is optional

Age/Gender: Need I explain this?

Flame element: Also include a blurb about how they represent this element. If no Flame, put 'None'. Keep in mind that not everyone has special flames of wrath like Xanxus does. It's very rare. The longer the bio, the more likely I am to accept special bits like that. Sky is taken.

Box weapon: Please, make sure that the weapon/animal isn't already used in a different element; ex. don't use a cloud hedgehog for a sun element box weapon, and not everyone has hybrids like Xanxus. They're pretty rare.

Appearance: Some things you can describe are hair/ eye color, clothing preference, weight/height, special markings/scars, and so on.

Personality: I want this to be the longest section you have. Include descriptions about how he/ she acts, their academic/ athletic skills, relationships with family, their beliefs, like and dislikes ,etc. The more description you have increases the likelihood that your character be picked.

History: This doesn't need to be too long, but it should include their involvement with the mafia if any, where they're from, and events that made them the way they are today.

Weaknesses/Strengths: Three of each at the least. No one can be perfect, and everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

Pairing preference: Who you'd like your character paired with. If you don't want your character paired with anyone, put 'None'. If you want a pairing, put a first and second preference. The Varia might show up at one point, but I'm not sure.

Extra: Anything else you want to include?

Alrighty~ Thanks for reading, and remember to favorite, review, and message me those characters!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Ligntning Strikes**

"_It hurts…" _

_Her light eyes opened up and she looked around, only to find darkness all around her. Her limbs were heavy and she felt pressure on her chest, as if someone was sitting on her. The girl tried to wiggle about, but the pressure only intensified to the point where it was crushing her painfully. She reached up and gripped the thing that was pinning her down, but her wrists were seized and pinned to the ground with a crack and sizzle as fire met flesh. As the pain flashed through her system, she let out a scream of pain, which make the invisible thing grin widely in pleasure, its teeth surprisingly human. She tore her eyes away from the darkness and looked up at it with anger flashing in her eyes and her own flame beginning to spark in her hands, but she froze and all of the power drained from her system. She knew those kind pale blue eyes staring down at her, and she knew they didn't belong to the monster pinning her down. _

_The creature burst into a familiar flurry of crackling and buzzing green static, his eyes oddly tender against the angry body of green and crazed smile. It was so wrong, even though she knew the wielder of the flames. The creature leaned in, its grin just an inch away from her ear, and it began to whisper quickly. At first, she couldn't understand what it was saying, but she began to recognize names one by one. She screamed for the creature to stop as they became more and more familiar._

"_Emil Villanueva, age sixteen."_

"_Stop!"_

"_Tadeo Alverez, Age nineteen."_

"_I know! Stop please!"_

"_Lasaro Duarte, age fourteen."_

"_STOP!"_

"_And it's all your fault," it cooed in his familiar tone before releasing her and fading away._

* * *

Once again, her eyes opened, but she was greeted by a bright white light all around her that made her hiss and cover her eyes. To her left side was a heart monitor that was beeping softly to the rhythm of her heart, though, she was surprised that it wasn't sky rocketing with her emotions. To her right was a small brown table with vases of flowers and cards, which she glared at with contempt. She didn't want them, and she didn't feel she deserved them. She mover her arm, only to find an IV stuck in it. With another hiss, she grabbed it and ripped it out of her skin, along with the other wires that were stuck to her. That caused the soft beeping of the monitor to flat line and turn into an annoying single, high pitched squeal. She growled and ripped the plug out of the wall, making it silent. Her feet took her to the drawers on the side of the room and she opened them to find clothing inside. Someone must have placed new clothing inside. A pair of black skinny jeans and an orange tank top would do just fine until she could find something that would fit her tastes. As long as she could leave the room, she didn't care.

She slipped her new clothing on and went to the door and opened it to find several doctors and nurses just outside the door. They must have heard the monitor flat line and come rushing to her room, which was on the top floor of the hospital. She frowned and looked at them with cold green eyes. "Move," she ordered, her accent deeply intertwined with her words.

"Miss Espinoza, we can't allow you to move yet! Please sit down before you hurt yourself-"

"I said move, damnit," she growled as she kicked the doctor that tried to urge her back into bed flat on the stomach. The impact sent him onto his back, making the nurses cry out in worry and fear. She took her chance and walked past them with lazy, but strong strides, her matching orange heels clicking on the ground. She reached up to run a hand through her long brown locks, but found nothing was there. She then remembered she had to sacrifice them in the battle, and she growled, shoving her hands in her pocket stubbornly. She walked to the elevator and when the door opened, she took her place inside with the few other people.

When the elevator opened up again on the bottom floor, she came face to face with a familiar group of people. Before they could say anything, she shoved past them and continued walking to the front door. "Thanks for bringing me here. I'm leaving though." Tsuna, being shorter than the woman, stumbled a bit, which enraged his storm guardian enough to make him grab at the woman. He yanked her back by her tank top so she was face to face with him. Their green eyes met and angry sparks flew between them.

"Oi! Woman! Apologize to Juudaime!"

"Let me go."

"You're so ungrateful! Apologize to boss!"

She turned her gaze from him to the shorter brunette. Behind the thick layer of anger and hatred, there was something else swimming in the green depths, but it scared Tsuna too much. He had to look away in shame. She turned her eyes back to the silver haired boy and raised her fist for a quick punch, which he caught, but he still growled in pain and fell backwards on the ground, clutching his arm in pain. She placed her foot on his chest to keep him down and growled in return. "I have no need to apologize to someone who won't look me in the eye," she snarled at him as she removed her foot and walked off went to his friend's side and tried to sit him up, but the fiery bomber had already taken out his bombs and had plans of throwing them, only to be stopped by his boss. He watched Tsuna as he went to the dangerous girl and called for her. Once again, she looked back at him, obviously annoyed at the hold up. "What?" she snapped.

He flinched and twiddled his fingers a bit, obviously not used to girls being so aggressive. The only girls he had much interaction with was Chrome, Kyoko, Haru, Bianchi and his own mother, and they were all kind to him, even if they were a little eccentric about how they expressed it. This girl though, had shown nothing but hostility to him and his family. "I apologize for what's happened today, but please. We need to talk-"

"About becoming allies? Should you have come before my family was slaughtered, I would have given you whatever aid you desired, but now even if I wanted to help you, I have nothing to give anymore, not even my guardians, so don't tell me you're sorry, Vongola. It's not your fault that everyone is dead, but Don't try to show empathy to me. You can only do that when your entire mafia is destroyed by a force you didn't know even existed, so come back if that happens, Amigo," she hissed out the last words and turned on her heel, then walked out of the building.

Gokudera was about to go after her for being so disrespectful, but a sudden pressure on his shoulder stopped him. He glanced up to see reborn perched on his shoulder and watching her leave. "Reborn! We can't just let her go like that!" Reborn's expression didn't change, and he just continued to stroke Leon's scales.

"I'll give you all some words of advice," Reborn started, "Hell has no wrath like that of a vengeful woman, so tread carefully. Avrilina Espinoza is a spirit for you to fear."

* * *

The girl had only walked a few blocks when she had been stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Immediately, her fist had flown to protect herself, but it was caught and held in a firm grip. The brown haired girl looked down to see a boy shorter then her holding her hand and examining her ring with interest in his dark hazel eyes, as if he was trying to see all of the detail in the thick puzzle ring, but before he could, she yanked her hand away and pet the large orange gemstone in the middle of it possessively. "What do you want, materia corta?"

He gave a chuckle and looked up at her. "I don't know what you said, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't nice." He gave a grin and ran a hand through his short hair. The gelled front looked like he had lazily styled it in the morning to keep it out of his face, and he wasn't dressed for the summer heat. In fact, he was probably dressed in the worst way possible for the summer weather. He had a pullover fleece jacket that hugged his shape, but it was unzipped a bit in the front so that his chest could be seen, and it seemed to be scarred from a bad burn. He also wore loose blue jeans and gray converse with his black top. "You're the Espinoza boss, right? They said she was supposed to be a girl with brown hair and green eyes, and you fit that description."

"What's it to you?"

"Weelll…" he said, dragging out his word as if he was contemplating his next words, "I'm Jean Marie Aloisi and I want to become one of your new guardians!"

She scoffed and turned around to continue walking. "Tough luck, Muchacho. I'm not looking for new guardians." He jogged to catch up with her and when he did, he spun on his heel to face her as he walked backwards.

"But you have to! You're a sky guardian, so you need the rest of your guardians."

"The rest of my guardians are dead, and no one is going to replace them anytime soon!" she hissed at the annoying boy. She reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him back just as a car came whizzing by, much to his surprise. "Watch yourself. I don't want to get blood on my shoes."

He laughed and took her hand tightly, which displeased her. "Well you must like me if you saved me from being hit by that car!" She scoffed, but he continued chattering happily, "I at least owe you something! You're not in Spain anymore, so you don't really have a house! Stay with me for now! I have a hotel room!"

"Vete a la mierda."

"That didn't sound nice."

"Jesus Christ! Leave me alone!" She snarled as she took off through the oncoming traffic. She managed to dodge the oncoming vehicles with practiced ease, though, the drivers didn't seem to be happy about her flying through oncoming traffic.

"Hey! Wait up! We're not done talking!" he cried as she disappeared into a crowd, He frowned and gave chase, but it only ended up in failure when he couldn't find her. He frowned and stalked off, his hands in his pockets. "This isn't over, yet," he said, "I've decided what I've wanted to do with my life, so I'm going to do it. I'm going to become your lightning guardian, Espinoza!"

* * *

It had been eighteen days since Avrilina had last slept a wink nor had she left the apartment she had recently rented. She had no idea what she was going to do with her life now that she was alone. She always had someone with her, whether it be her guardians, or her grandmother. She was never truly alone like she was now, and it was driving her insane. She couldn't close her eyes without the haunting image of those kind blue eyes accompanied by that wicked, uncharacteristic smile appearing behind her eyes and scaring her back to full consciousness, and it was beginning to rip her apart both inside and out.

She had peeked outside from her window, and had seen the people below, but all of the people's faces looked the same, whether they be man, woman or child, she could still see dead people everywhere, their blood splattered on their bodies and the surrounding area, and it was dark. At first, it forced her to her knees and drew a scream from her, but, when it kept happening every time she peeked out, she grew immune to it, and only stared out at it numbly. She also held conversations with herself from time to time, and she could barely walk in a straight line. Physically, she wasn't off much better. Her green eyes were less vibrant then before, though, they still sparked occasionally with the insatiable rage she possessed, and she looked overall like a hospital patient. She was lucky that she went shopping for food and new clothing early in the week, because she wouldn't be able to do anything in her current state.

She was curled up on the ground around her cell phone that glared harshly at her dead eyes with its artificial light. It was as if she was waiting for a call, and every now and then, she would take the phone, flip it open, and place it back on the floor. She was shivering slightly, even though she was in a thick forest green hoodie in the middle of warm summer night. With a whimper, the girl tried to push her fragile body up from her pathetic position on the floor, and after a few minutes of struggling, she managed to push herself up onto her feet with her cell phone and keys to her apartment in hand. She dialed a number as she walked out and pressed the device to her ear. It rang a few times as she stumbled her way down the stairs and onto the empty, dark streets. Someone picked up on the other end, though, they didn't say anything. Avrilina didn't mind though, and she started talking.

"Hey…How have you been…? I've been pretty bad lately because of what's happened…All of my friends and family are dead, and it's all my fault. Even you're dead, Vasco, and you always managed to come back…I really miss you, and I don't want to replace you, or the others yet, but...I think it's time…And someone's even come up to take your place…If he can solve your ring though…" She gave a soft chuckle and swayed a little as she rounded a corner, "He's been stalking me and begging me to join, and showing me how much he can do…It kind of creepy…But…he's shown some promise to take your place..I think you might like him…" She collapsed suddenly onto her knees, choking on her falling tears. "I…I don't want you gone…It shouldn't be like this…we should have died together when we were older…That's how I wanted it…Not this way…not me hunting for revenge on an enemy I never wanted!" She grabbed her chest as if it her heart was going to burst at any minute. "Please…Don't leave me yet…" A soft, almost feminine voice replied to her, the smile evident in his voice.

"I'll always be with you… So get up, and be strong, like the boss I know you are."

Avrilina nodded and rose slowly and shakily to her knees and continued walking to her destination. "Thanks…I needed that…"

* * *

Ok, there you go. Liaxing's character, Jean, is introduced as the Lightning guardian.

I have a question for you guys though. I'm having a hard time deciding when this story should be placed, and if it should follow the manga/anime. So I'm asking for your opinions, and you can tell me what you want to see (other than your character popping up). So review, Private message, and favorite, and I'll try to update soon!

Materia corta: Short stuff

Muchacho: Boy

Vete a la meirda: Fuck off


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Sun Shines**

Jean had been surprised when the girl he had been pursuing the past weeks had shown up at his doorstep at such an hour, and looking so worn. He didn't really question how she managed to find him yet, put a gentle hand on her, trying not to break her in her fragile state, but she still brushed it off stubbornly, making him pout. "You're still so prickly even though you're barely standing," he said, trying to touch her again, but she attempted to smack his hand away, but sloppily missed.

"Imma not…" She slurred her eyes half lidded and darkened to show her sleepless nights, "I just cantsleep…"

He chuckled a bit and opened the door a little wider for her, letting her in and kept a hand at the ready to catch her if she stumbled and fell. "Of course you're not. Why are you here? I was asleep, like you should be-"

"Shuddup an' gimme a bed…"

He rolled his eyes and pushed some of his mess off of his hotel bed and cleared a spot for her, which she filled quickly when she tripped and fell face first onto the generic green comforter the hotel provided for him. With a groan, she tucked her arms into her green hoodie's sleeves and popped the hood, and curled up tightly in a ball, but her green eyes peeked out from the darkness of the hood, and she cupped something in her grip. "Com'mere…" she said , her voice considerably softer than before as if laying down had taken a large load off of her shoulders. He huffed and went to her, his hands on his hips in frustration.

"Yes, princess?" He said, a little frustrated with her from barging in and waking him up from his slumber. He had been so comfortable that he fell asleep in his everyday clothing and not the pajamas he brought along. She reached up and seized his wrist and yanked him down on the bed, surprisingly strong for being barely conscious. He gave a yelp and struggled for a moment, but he was met with his object of desire: the Espinoza Family ring. Something was wrong with it; it didn't really look like it was supposed to. It had four oddly shaped bands connected together, one with a green gem on top, and looked nothing like the intricate puzzle ring on the woman's finger. He gently reached out, his scarred fingers ghosting over the surface as if it was about to break, but he took it gently out of her fingers, eager to inspect it.

"It's all yours…" she muttered and snuggled into to pillow , her graceful arms hugging it tightly to her modest chest, "Yurra guardian now…Now lemme sleep an' I'll explain in th' mornin'…" It took her ten seconds to pass out and relax, soft snores leaving her pale lips. Jean gave a sigh and pulled the blankets over her gently, careful not to disturb her, and tucked her in to make her feel more secure. His thin fingers gently glided over her pale face and fiddled with her short messy brown locks and then urged the hood over her eyes. She squirmed in response, perhaps out of instinct, and tried to move away from him, which made him sigh in exasperation.

Content with how she was situated, the Italian leaned back and let his clever fingers play with the ring in an attempt to solve it. "You may have given me the right to replace one of your guardians, but it's going to take a lot more than that for you to trust me, hm?" he mused aloud. "That's okay though…I have nothing but time to deal with you and your crazy mood swings."

* * *

It had been a three weeks since Gokudera had seen any glimpse of the Spanish woman that had insulted his boss, and it was bothering him. No one had the right to speak to him in such a way with such harsh words, and it was his job as right hand man to make the person who did pay. The bomber had been looking for her, but it was as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth. She surely hadn't gone back to Spain to her home and all of that death; no one could face that much death for a second time so quickly….There was no way anyone could go back.

It was only by chance that he stumbled upon her cell phone. It was a thin, black I-phone like device that was sleek and looked as if she just bought it yesterday. The Italian tossed it gently between his long fingers and tried to figure out a way to turn it on. By accident, his finger brushed against the screen and found that it was on, but unlocked from a previous call. Its contents were on full display to him. With narrowed eyes and swift taps, he managed to find all of the apps on the main screen to look for something that might be of use to him. He found an item titled 'locator' and tapped on it once and brought up a map on the screen on it. Not too far from his current location, which was shown by a little arrow on the screen, were seven small dots of each flame color. Gokudera put two and two together and figured that the seven small dots represented the seven Espinoza rings, and that Avrilina Espinoza must be attached to the orange dot. Without missing a beat, he rushed down the street and towards the orange dot.

When he reached the hotel, he pushed past the service downstairs and rushed up the floor that the locator had told him. He was on the top floor in the most luxurious suite available, the penthouse suite. He didn't care where she lived though; she had still offended him and his boss and she was about to get blown sky high. He strode up to the door and slammed on it angrily, making the door rattle with the force. On his third knock, the door swung open and there was a boy who immediately began trying to quiet him. "Hush! SHHHHH! She's asleep!" he whispered. Gokudera glared at the shirtless boy, noting the scar that stretched across his right side and marred his light skin.

"I don't care. Move," he hissed as he shoved past the boy, who seemed to be freaking out and trying to stop him as quietly as possible.

"You really don't want to do that! I don't know what she's like when she wakes up! It's a bad idea! Abandon ship! Abort! Abort!"

"Shut up!" Gokudera growled at him and pushed him away, making the boy bite his lip, but stop his weak attempts at trying to save the bomber and flee to the open kitchen a few feet away to hide from the nuclear explosion that was sure to happen when he even tried to wake up the woman that was curled up on the bed happily, her head hidden in the hood and her breath soft and even. He watched her with his stormy green eyes and debated on leaving; but that thought was gone as quick as it came, and he reached down to shake her awake.

Her hand shot up and snatched his wrist, and with a seemingly effortless flick of her wrist, the tossed him across the room from her curled up position, surprising both of the people in the room. Gokudera's back met glass, and it shattered with the force, and he fell out the window of the top floor, slices on his back and panic in his eyes. He had underestimated her powers once again and possibly for the last time. He grabbed his bombs and was about to light them quickly, but a hand caught his shirt and stopped his descent and bright green eyes filled with anger met his own orbs, and he was tossed to the side again and into a floral arrangement in front of a restaurant. He hit the pots and grunted with the pain of the impact, but was otherwise unharmed aside from a few bruises and some dirt on his clean white shirt. He glanced up and looked at the woman above him. Her orange flames came from her orange heels that contrasted her otherwise dark attire. With a flick of her head, her dark hood fell from her face to reveal raccoon like bruises around her eyes that showed how tired the woman truly was. "I'm tired of fucking around with you Vongola. Leave me alone before I really get pissed, si?" she snarled as she lowered herself to the ground and stalked off, her choppy brown locks tussled all about. The stubborn boy didn't appreciate being ignored and tossed a few of his bombs at her that she didn't seem to notice, but when she flew up in the air once more, he knew she had, and a small smirk crossed his pale lips as she hit the bombs placed above her and blew, which in turn set off the rest of the bombs and made a large explosion. He pushed himself up and dusted off, and turned to talk away.

"Don't insult my boss. I'll end you," he said coolly as he lit up yet another cigarette in his mouth and strode away, the soreness setting in. He had to be careful of her now that he knew her true strength. He could get seriously messed up if she decided to kill him in the future

"Care to repeat yourself, gillipollas?" came a familiar voice along with a familiar ring that was attached to a familiar fist. Gokudera's eyes widened again, and he had only a second to lean back and dodge the incoming attack before it met his face. Another attack came for him, and he was forced to dodge a flurry of fists as the woman came after him with ardor in her strikes. He had gotten her for sure, the singe marks on her clothing, hair and face gave it away, but she should have fallen with that many explosives, yet she was coming after him as if nothing had happen to her. Finally, after a few minutes of continuous dodging, she landed a solid blow to his stomach and sent him on his back and down the street. She glared at him, her eyes in slits. "You seem to have gotten yourself into a bad situation. I haven't become a sky guardian for nothing. I am a mafia boss for a reason. I don't take people disrespecting me lightly, so I suggest you turn tail and run before I change my mind about killing you."

"Don't talk to me as if I'm a child! You're the one in the bad situation, woman!" He said as he spat out his cigarette. It landed on a nearby bomb that was balanced on his foot and he kicked it up towards her. Out or instinct, she caught it and looked at it as if it was a rare creature, then her hand burst into flames, engulfing the dynamite and petrifying it instantly. She flicked it to the side and it made a hole through the building nearby.

"You're dead, Vongola," she snarled and dug in her pocket and yanked out a small pill like container, then crushed it in her hand. The sand inside began to fill an invisible form, and before long, an axe twice the girl's side was clutched in her long fingers. "You have no idea what sort of deep shit you've got yourself into," she said as she raised the halberd above her head, the blade poised and ready to strike, "but you better run." The axe fell, the blade glinting as it made its descent towards the boy. It was caught before it could meet its target though.

"Do not hurt my friends." Avrilina blinked and looked at the boy in front of her. His kind brown eyes were coated in orange and glaring her straight in the eye, which made her expression curve up in interest as she jumped away, her halberd in hand.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi…You've made things a lot more interesting by interfering. And I see you've brought your guardians as well…" she cooed gently, her eyes darting towards the two other trailing behind the sky guardian. Her grin, now showing her white teeth, stretched across her face like that of the Cheshire cat, and her ring was spewing out flames like a tiny volcano, reflecting her inner emotions. "Let's get this party started then."

"I'll end this EXTREMELY fast, Sawada!" Ryohei shouted as he charged for her, his fists at the ready. As he swung at her, she suddenly disappeared. He looked up and saw her balanced on top of her halberd on her finger tips, her heels flaming and propelling her down so her foot would attempt to meet his face. He held his arms to protect him, and her feet only met his arms. She twisted and tried to nail hi on the side of the head, but he blocked again, which drew a grunt from the boxer and knocked him aside a bit, but he was quick to retaliate, and he caught her shoulder with a fist, sending her off balance, but she managed to catch herself. She wasn't aware of the rain guardian behind her though, and he raised his sword to knock her out, but his blade was blocked by another, and he was forced to dodge a small blade that swiped quickly at him.

"Watch your back, boss~" Jean cooed as he drove the rain guardian back with his switchblade, a gray T shirt now on him and covering his scarred torso. He turned his head to see a bunch of dynamite coming for him, but before he could make a move to dodge them, a flash of gold cut them off mid strike, and they fell to the ground harmlessly. A smirk stretched across the woman's lips, and she yanked the chain attached to the bottom of her halberd, and caught it again.

"Watch your own." She heard the air move around, and she sprung backwards onto her hands and flipped out of the way of a golden flame, her eyes narrowed again, and she landed on her feet just in time to drop her halberd and catch an orange engulfed fist aimed for her. The two family leaders glared each other down. "Your attitude has changed, Vongola," she sneered, her grip tightening on his fist, which made the brunette boy flinch at the sheer pressure, and yanked them away, jumping back and trying to decide what her next move might be. "You seem to have jumped into a situation you might not survive." There was a soft click of a gun, and she glanced town to see a green gun pointed at her from the ground, and her eyes narrowed, and she dropped her aggressive stance to glare at the baby.

"I could say the same thing for you, Avrilina Espinoza."

She hissed and yanked her halberd back by its chain and held it out. "This is between me and the Vongola head, Arcobaleno. Don't interfere of you'll get in my blade's way." Reborn looked at her threateningly, though his back eyes didn't narrow, and his expression didn't change, but the air seemed to chill slightly. Even the fiery Spanish woman could feel it up her spine.

"Your opponent is my useless student."

She growled and tightened her grip on her axe, her anger surging through her veins. "I don't care! His unruly guardians have offended the Espinoza family and me as its head! He's going to fight me!"

"You are not the head of a family anymore," Reborn said, his voice icy enough to make her freeze in realization. "Your guardians are dead, and your family is no longer existent. You are the head of no one."

Her eyes were contracted in fear and realization, and her hands shook slightly as his words began to sink in, but her fear was short lived. Her hands became engulfed with her sky flames even though there was no port for the flames to come out of. Her eyes became slits and she swiped her fists at the baby recklessly, her emotions taking hold of her rationality. Reborn effortlessly jumped out of its path as she tried to kill him, and when he got the chance, he aimed a kick at her face and knocked her backwards and almost onto her rear, but she managed to keep her balance. She shook and grabbed the discarded axe once again, blinded with the insatiable rage that ripped through her. The flames on her hands engulfed the axe and it became a much more dangerous weapon. "My bloodline is not that weak! The Espinoza will survive!"

"You will survive, but will everyone else?" She hissed and swung again at the child, but he dodged once more and landed a kick on her chest, knocking the wind out of her, but she was quick to retaliate and swing once more. "Your emotions are taking hold of you. With such recklessness, it won't be long until your entire family is extinct."

"Shut up!" She screamed as she chased the baby around, her axe flying about recklessly along with her fists. "You know nothing! You know nothing! Shut your mouth before I rip it off!"The black clad hit man made his way up her arm and grabbed her hood and shoved his gun under her chin, his finger on the trigger and his black eyes boring into her vibrant green orbs.

"I know more about you then you even know. Your anger will be your greatest downfall," he said as he pressed his gun tighter against her, making an imprint of it on her throat. She watched him, and suddenly, her flames died down, and her legs went limp, and she sank down to her knees, her eyes glossy, but she closed them and knitted her eyebrows together, but still had his gun aimed for her. Reborn slid off of her and to the ground. By then, she could feel everyone's eyes on her.

"Kill me. I don't want to live in this world anymore," she said quietly as she released her weapon and shook slightly. "I cannot do it myself, so you have to do it for me."

"I thought Espinozas were fighters until the end."

"I don't deserve that name…" she hissed and tightened her fist so her nails were digging into her palms and drawing blood. "I've let my family die. Everyone I loved throughout my years…They're dead, and I couldn't protect them, so just do it!" Reborn watched her, then released his grip on the gun and allowed Leon to revert back to his reptilian form. She opened her eyes and looked at him, surprised at first, then her eyes narrowed and she shot up onto her feet.

"You've become something you hate. I won't waste a bullet on you."

Her lips moved down into a scowl, and she turned on her heel quickly and angrily. She went to her companion and snatched his wrist and dragged him with her, her teeth bared and clenched angrily as she shoved past those in her way, but not before shooting a hateful look at the boss in training and his three companions. "You Vongola are pathetic. You're unable to take the life of someone who so sorely wants to die."

Tsuna locked eyes with her, his fear hidden well in his wide eyes. "I cannot take the life of a friend."

She snarled at him angrily, her teeth snapping like those of a wolf. "We will never be friends, so get those delusional thoughts out of your mind. If you trust your enemies so easily, you won't last a week on your own." She continued past him, only to be stopped once more by his gentle touch on her arm.

"And without friends, you will be alone all your life!"

She paused a moment, as if she was mulling over her words, then spoke, her anger restrained and her voice low. "I've always been alone. I'm sure I can last a bit longer." She swatted his hand off of her and continued on her way, Jean stumbling to keep up with her swift pace. Tsuna watched after her, sympathy swimming in his eyes.

"Such hatred…It's hard to imagine what it's like living with that…"

* * *

"Avrilina! Please calm down! You don't know what you're thinking!"

"I know exactly what I'm thinking."

"So you're just going to give up that easily?! Death isn't the answer to everything!"

Avrilina turned her angry gaze on him and stood her ground, her face pressed near to his. "It's the answer to my problems. I have nothing to live for." Jean pressed forward and knocked his head against hers and growled in anger at her stupidity.

"Your family! You can live for them! Your friends! Me! These rings! There's plenty of things!" he said as he held up his rung, which was not quite assembled yet. "You gotta find something that you can live for!"

"You don't quite understand my situation. My family and friends were all slaughtered in front of my face about a month ago. These rings are nothing more than a curse upon whoever solves them. You should count yourself lucky that you haven't figured it out yet. It's as much a burden as it is a blessing," she murmured as she spun the ring around on her finger. "You should learn about these rings before you try to put it on."

"You're being cowardly, Avrilina!"

"I want to be a coward. Fighting is such a tiresome task when everything you do is a battle. I want to stop. An Espinoza without her fighting will is barely an Espinoza at all," she said as she leaned on the railing and watched the sky. "I don't deserve my name, and I don't want my name. I just want to be me, you know? I want to be a kid…But…I can't have that with the life I have…" She gave a sigh and leaned backwards over the railing and fell downwards into the river below. Jean, though he reacted quickly, didn't catch her, and she fell towards the water below and entered the dark waves with a splash. Jean leaned over and looked down, but froze in fright. He hated heights, and when confronted with them, had a hard time overcoming them. It was an impossible task that made his frail heart pound painfully against his rib cage. With shaky fingers, he unzipped his dark jacket and tried to urge himself to get in, and once, he got close when he got a good running start, but he had instinctively stopped himself and fell to his knees.

"I'm so useless sometimes…."

* * *

The water had welcomed her thin frame with open arms, and it held her tightly in its cold grip. Its harsh current flung her around in the water, knocking what little oxygen was in her lungs out and bruising her soft tan skin with its invisible fists. She could feel the water invading her throat and lungs as she coughed instinctively, and she thrashed in opposition to the harsh treatment, but eventually, when the coldness became welcoming on her sore body, she relaxed and let the waves do as they pleased with her. Her green eyes opened slightly, and the salty water stung them slightly, but she looked at the sun above and it's rapidly darkening rays. The darkness of the river was dragging her down and away, but with her will to live gone, she didn't refuse her harsh treatment and only dealt with the pain as she closed her eyes.

She had only been under for a few seconds, but she was far into the depths, and the sun was now gone. It was just her and the dark water that would kill her at any second, but she was content as her life slowly slipped from her fingers. She would be able to return to the people she loved. She'd see her mother, and her friends, she'd see them all again, and they could be together once more. It would be like life before the attack. Maybe they would be able to play like they were children again…Maybe she'd be able to finally be normal, a privilege she was never granted as a child. She could lose her anger and just…relax. That sounded nice to her…

Avrilina suddenly felt warm all over, and as if she was being held gently, and a golden light shimmered on the other side of her eyes lids. The tired girl opened her eyes slightly, and familiar pair of brown eyes watched her and urged her from where she was. She could feel gentle tugging on her body as the gentle, shimmering flames tugged her farther from the black pit of the river and up towards the light. She didn't fight, nor did she help the body of flames pull her up as her eyelids drooped slightly in exhaustion.

"Fight," It commanded, but it drew little response from her, and again, its soft tone commanded her, only louder, "Fight, Avrilina!" This time, it drew a response from her, and her green eyes flew open, the spirit back in their depths. She pawed roughly at the water and scared her way back up to the warmth of the surface, but her strength was gone, and she couldn't move quickly enough to replenish her oxygen supply, and her movements began to grow sluggish and her vision blurry and dark as she made her way up. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she felt someone take her around the waist gently and pull her up to the surface. They broke through the surface of the water, and the girl gulped in oxygen greedily and dug her fingers into the clothing of the person that had helped her. A gentle hand patted her back gently to try to calm her down and tried his best to swim closer to shore. The severe beating underwater had taken a toll out of Avrilina, and her eyes began to droop as her heart began to calm. Even though she was barely awake, she could feel herself being carried to the shore, and laid on the bank as someone's fingers skimmed her body gently. Again, she instinctively fought back, her fist flying towards the person attached to the fingers, but they caught it. Her flames flickered weakly for a moment, and then went out, and she tried to yank her hand away, but the person held tight.

"Be still…I'm trying to help you…"

"I don't want help!" she hissed and tried to punch the person again, but he caught her hands and held them together by her wrists with one of his large hands..

"Hush Miss. I've helped you before…Relax…," The boy cooed gently as he gently rubbed circles on her upper back right between her shoulder blades. She tried to struggle away again, but she turned her head away and spat up some water on the ground. " I need you to take your sweater off-"

"Don't fucking touch me!"

The boy gave a sigh and swiped his wet brown locks out of his eyes and pushed his silver rimmed glasses up a bit. "I need you to cooperate, or you're going to get sick…And sickness won't be any better. I'm going to give you my coat. It's still dry," He said calmly as he held out a neatly folded piece of cloth. "It should cover you sufficiently…I'm a doctor, so I'm looking at your wounds, not you-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screeched as she ripped her hands away, her anger fueling her flames once again and making them flare. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She scrambled up on wobbly legs that barely held her weight and backed away from the boy. Her green eyes weren't seeing anymore since she was on the brink of passing out, but her stubborn nature wouldn't let her go down that easily. He frowned and stood up and went towards her. She backed away, soft hisses bubbly in her throat as she backed away and her dark, damp hair spiking slightly in anger.

"You're just acting childish now. You know as well as I do that you're barely able to stand right now. I want to help you get better. So sit down or you'll hurt yourself!" he barked at her, but as he did, she tripped over her own shoes and tumbled back. He was quick enough to slide and catch her, but she was unconscious before he could touch her. The boy sighed and slid off her hoodie and tossed it aside along with her tank top and jeans, and he quickly covered her up with his lab coat before anyone could think anything suspicious was happening, and he picked her up. "You are still such a pain, miss, but you saved me…So I owe you my life…This is the least I can do…" with a sigh, the amber eyes boy walked away from the banks and into the urban areas. "Now let's find you somewhere nice to sleep before you get hypothermia…My mother's home is too far, as is the hospital…So where-"

"I can help!" The boy blinked and looked towards the source of the voice to find another boy his age, but shorter than him by at least five inches. His dark jacket was partially unzipped, his hair was tussled and messy, and his face was flustered as if he had just run a marathon. "She…She's my boss! And you're a doctor, right? So you have to help her! I'll take you to my…friend's…They'll at least let her rest there until she's healthy enough to move elsewhere…" The doctor nodded and walked closer to him.

"Very well…Call me Gabriel for now…I'll introduce myself formally later…"

"I'm Jean… Follow me."

* * *

I'm sorry for not updating. I'm taking these insanely high level classes, and they're slamming me with a ton of homework almost daily, so by the time I'm done, I'm beat. I had a little off time now, and here we are! So what do you think so far? Do you think Avrilina is a bitch? If you do, then good. She is.

I have a question for you. Would you rather insanely long chapters (say 20-30 pages on Microsoft word) and less of them less frequently, or would you like shorter updates (10-15 pages) more often? I'm just curious as to how I can improve the story in easy ways.

Well, auditions are still going on for storm guardians! I have two requests though. I know this is a mafia, but no more guns. I can say I've gotten about 12 applications with them as the main weapons. Also, no wolves for box animals; there's been too many of them.

Thanks for reading! Review, favorite, and throw me a pm!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Flickering Flames**

Jean sat outside the door, his fingers twiddling with his ring in his grip. By then, he had become a little less flustered from his run from the river to the Vongola tenth's home and back, but his heart still thumped frantically against his chest. He was worried for his boss even thought he knew that she was alive inside the room and had a doctor at her side. All the stress and the emotions that he had been feeling the past few days had really been taking a toll on his heart, and he was lucky that he remembered to take his medicine, or he would be in pretty bad condition. He was lucky to have made it to the Vongola boss's doorstep and still been able to plead their help without passing out even with it.

A frown set onto Jean's lips, and he clenched the ring tightly in his grip as the feeling of uselessness washed over him like a cold wave. His hazel eyes were trained on his right arm where the scares tore up the skin and left a permanent reminder of his disabilities. He didn't mind them being there most of the time, and he even sometimes thought that they were pretty sexy, but he didn't like when they leered up at him mockingly. He wrinkled his nose in distaste, but shot up when the door opened and he was instantly up in front of the doctor. "How is she? How is she? Is she okay?" he chattered worriedly as he looked up into Gabriel's eyes. The tall boy ran a hand through his now dry and wild brown locks and pursed his lips.

"She seems to have gotten a bit of a fever, and a few bruises, but otherwise looks okay. She should make a full recovery as long as she's kept warm and we keep her temperature down," he said, then offered a small smile to the younger teenager in front of him. "If you would like, then you can go see her. I need to get something to drink though, so be extra careful with her while I'm not here.." With that, he walked off, his lab coat flicking at his heels as he walked away. "You should join me downstairs when you're convinced she'll be okay…."

Jean watched him as he walked away, then peeked in the room quietly, afraid to disturb her in her sleep, but when he heard he short, raspy breaths, he had to inspect her closer. As he slunk closer, he noticed how pale she was at first, then the soft pink tinge of her skin became visible and he could see the droplets of sweat on her forehead and how pained her expression was even in her sleep. Jean instantly felt worse that he hadn't jumped in after her instantly, but the thought of such heights made him shiver even when he was nowhere near them. He turned and was about to go downstairs, but he heard her squirm a bit under her blankets and suddenly produce thump, and panicked when he saw her curled up on the ground in her ball of blankets. He slid over to her side and gently gathered her up the best he could in his arms, but it proved to be a difficult task seeing as she was a bit bigger than him. Eventually, he managed to get her back into a relatively comfortable position and tucked her gently in. "Stay," he chuckled lightly as he got up, but before he left, he took a few extra pillows and tossed them by the bed so she would land on something soft if she was to roll off again. "Sleep tight, Princess," he whispered softly as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

"Lasaro...What is there to live for in my life?" Avrilina started, her face buried into her arms and her green eyes watching the grass that swayed with the soft breeze that tussled her short chestnut locks, "You're all dead…I never met my mother or father, and the rest of my family is dead because of the mafia business…"

"You're blinded by your sadness and rage, boss…You cannot see the lure of living anymore," came a smooth, soft voice, "I cannot tell you what you live for, because I am not you and cannot read your mind as you seem to so often think I can." Beside the girl was a shimmering shapeless blob of gold. Its two kind eyes stared at the girl next to him. The Spanish woman gave a hiss and curled up tighter, and with a chuckle, the blob placed its hand on her back and rubbed gentle circles in between her shoulder blades with a soothing rhythm. "Relax, and think of what's around you."

"I see nothing around me that's worth living for."

"You're blind then."

She looked up at the flames beside her and watched it with narrowed eyes, trying to decipher its words. "You could help me and tell me what you mean."

"If I did, you would never find the real answer…" It removed its hand and pet her head gently, "Right now, you are sick with a fever, but the Vongola have taken you in while you're ill. Relax and think…Allow yourself time to heal both physically and mentally, then you may find your answer."The golden blob rose on its thick legs and held its hand out to the woman below it. She gave a sigh and took its hand.

"Very well…Your words always made sense in the end…It should be no different now." Avrilina locked eyes with the creature's brown human like eyes and watched the smile spread across its face.

"Your trust in me even in death is something I'll never forget. Thank you for such a great experience in life. I'm glad I died protecting something I love."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Lasaro…Your death will be avenged…" The blob pressed its hand to its forehead and heaved a sigh.

"Hate will get you nowhere Avrilina. Should you murder who took my life, you will only be taking the life of another, then someone else will be after your life, and the cycle of revenge will begin and wipe out everything. There is a difference between murder and killing, and somewhere inside you, you know what it is…Be the better person in this situation…," It said gently as the light began to fade. Avrilina panicked and grabbed its arm tightly and hissed.

"You're too vague! I don't understand!" It shook its head and gently pried its hand out of her grip and disappeared. "No! Stay! I'm not done talking to you yet! Come back! Lasaro!" She cried after it for a few more moments, then growled and looked at her hands. They were covered in sticky crimson liquid that reeked of metal. "How can I be the better person when I have nothing but death in my future…?"

* * *

"…She may be struggling with an illness I can't cure as easily as I hoped," Gabriel said as he swished the water in his glass around thoughtfully. Jean blinked, than growled at him in annoyance.

"You just told me moments ago you expected a full recovery!"

"And I do, but I have no idea how long it will take her to get to that point though. She took a great fall into the river. She was a little beaten up before, and the rough current only worsened her bruises. She also got this fever she's sick with because she stayed cold and wet just a bit too long. She seems to be having some mental issues, such as stress, that is preventing her from recovering quickly, even with my flames to help her," he started, "but it seems much more deeply rooted then simply stress…I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's not helping her heal faster…"

A scowl worked its way across his face, and he got up from his seat and stared the doctor straight in the eye. "Well find some way to fix it. You're a doctor, and doctors are supposed to help their patients heal quicker."

"And I am, Jean. I'm not a miracle worker. Her body will not let her heal until she's ready to accept the process of healing."

The two boys watched each other, their intense glares nearly making sparks between their eyes, when someone's snarky remark caught their attention. "Oh just shut up and kiss already, idiots. Arguing over that stupid woman in the tenth's home is rude enough without your sexual tension flying all around." Their heads swiveled towards the silver haired bomber, who was doing his homework on the couch next to Tsuna and Yamamoto. He glared at the from behind his glasses. "We're trying to concentrate on our homework and help him learn, so if you morons would shut up, it would help Tsuna." Jean's eyes narrowed for just a second, then his expression lightened, and he went over and plucked the Biology book from the boy's hands and took a peek at the chapter he was on, then snapped it shut with a thump.

"Geeze, I took this crap like four years ago," Jean started, "Evolution is basically the process of change in a species that takes place over long periods of time. It's not something easily observed in action seeing as it takes BILLIONS of years. Any old idiot can learn this easily as long as you dumb it down and quit using all of your fancy terms that I keep hearing you babble out." Tsuna's cheeks grew red in embarrassment. He was always having trouble with schoolwork, and here was someone his age that was apparently already knowledgeable on the subject saying it was easy. He really was no good…

"Hey! Don't insult him like that!" Gokudera hissed and rose to confront the boy that was so casually insulting his boss, but Jean gently shoved him back.

"Don't be so hasty. If you're having such trouble learning this, then I'll be glad to offer my assistance~

"Yeah right! Like an idiot like you could really know anything," Gokudera snorted and again made a move to advance, but Tsuna diffused him before he could rise too far off the couch.

"G-Gokudera! Maybe he has a point. He knows his stuff apparently, so maybe he can help…?" Gokudera looked at him, and then smiled softly at him.

"Alright! Whatever my boss says!" He chirped and took up his homework again, but that didn't stop him from throwing a nasty look at the smirking Espinoza lightning guardian.

"Now then, let's start with what you know."

On the side, Gabriel was chuckling as he took a drink of water, and then looked down at the arcobaleno beside him. "This certainly is an amusing bunch of kids you have here." Reborn looked up at him and cocked one eyebrow up slightly.

"You're nothing but a kid yourself, Gabriel."

"Yeah, I know, but still. I'm out of school at least and studying to be a doctor. It's my dream, you know?"

Reborn's facial expression didn't change, but his tone did to indicate his seriousness. "Your dream may not come true the way you want it to be…You've gotten yourself mixed up in the wrong place if you want a calm life. In the mafia, it is rarely as calm as it is right now." The brown haired boy chuckled a bit and glanced over at the group of kids who were still listening to Jean.

"I think I can handle it. I don't know if she's going to give me this ring you talk of, though. It would certainly take a lot for her to give up something so special to her."

"You won't be the only one involved. Your whole family will get dragged in one way or another, whether you like it or not." Suddenly, the doctor froze, his amber eyes widened with the glass halfway to his lips, but after a second, he regained his composure.

"I've kept my involvement hidden from my family, so hopefully, they'll never find out or get involved."

"Don't keep your hopes up. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. The Espinoza family has unwanted enemies, and with her so vulnerable, they may attack the moment they catch any information regarding her condition and use your family as hostages-"

"They will not!" he snapped at Reborn," I'll kill them before they have the chance." Reborn looked away.

"At least you have spirit. I hope you can hold onto it for a long time…"

* * *

It had been three days, and Avrilina's condition had barely gotten any better. She was still bedridden and hadn't woken up for more over a minute yet, and her wet rag had to be changed often. Gabriel, as her self appointed doctor, had been doing an excellent job keeping her in a stable condition and making sure that she hadn't gotten any worse, but the fact that she was still asleep had been bothering him constantly for the past few days, and he had been reading up on any medical condition that he might have had, and there was nothing he could uncover in all his text books that he had gotten from his mother.

He was on the couch and flipping through one of his books, his lab coat discarded over the arm of the couch, when he had seen the red light flash out of the corner of his eye and heard the upstairs window shatter. He sprang to his feet and scuttled up the stairs messily as he went to go check on his patient, but someone had already gotten there before him, and was cursing up a storm.

"What the FUCK do you think you're doing with her?! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" Jean was screaming out the window, but he soon opted for just jumping out the window and chasing after the culprit when he didn't turn back. Gabriel went to the window after him, and shouted after the boy.

"Get back here! You can't just jump into something! Come back here!" But his protests were pointless; the lightning guardian had already made up his mind as he sprinted down the street. Gabriel hissed and made his way downstairs, and past Tsuna, who was just emerging from his bedroom. "There's a slight problem, so we'll be back soon. I'll pay for your window when I get back!" He said as he snagged his lab coat and slipped on his loafers before darting out the door. Tsuna blinked his eyes and glanced down to where Reborn was. The disturbance had managed to wake him up, but he didn't seem too angry with anyone.

"Well, Tsuna? Are you just going to stand here when a potential comrade is in trouble?"

"She made it pretty clear she didn't want to be friends, but…I don't have much of a choice, do I? I'll go help!" The adult in baby form smirked a bit and held out his cell phone, which already had one of his student's guardians dialed up.

"I don't get why I have to do the dirty work for that asshole," a blonde boy growled as he sprinted down the street while holding onto a bundle of cloth in his arms. "I mean, he's just as able to do this as I am, but our stupid bosses wanted me and my team to do this crap! It's not right, huh?" he continued as he ran down an alleyway and his in the shadows as his pursuer passed him by. He let out a deep breath and allowed himself to continue on slowly, his feet dragging slightly. "And it's so late at night. I'm tired. So I'll finish my business with you, Espinoza bitch, and go back to bed…That sounds nice-" He was cut off when a knife flew past his face and sliced his cheek open and drew blood. With a snarl, Cyrille drew his sword and let his flames dance on the blade of the broadsword while keeping a firm grip on the Espinoza leader. "For fuck's sake. What now? Last time it was the Vongola, so WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"Your worst nightmare," the person said as they charged the storm guardian seemingly recklessly. The blonde boy turned on his heel and spun away from his attack, but the brown haired boy didn't even attack him. Instead, he snatched the scalpel he had thrown at Cyrille's face earlier and twirled it in his nimble fingers so that he was holding it horizontally, and he grinned widely, displaying his white teeth, and again, he went for the boy. Cyrille frowned and again jumped away, but this time, he jumped on top of some fence boards and scuttled away.

"I don't have time to play with you, so I'll be taking my leave. Until next time," he said and turned, but a sudden pain caught him in his lower back and he stumbled a bit in pain, but the anger that surged through him helped him ignore it and turn around to block the boy's scalpel blade from hitting skin. With a snarl, he swung his blade messily, making the doctor back off from him. "Don't you listen?! Fine! You're making me be the asshole here!" he said as he pressed his blade close to the brown haired girl's neck and singed her skin, making her squirm and squeal in pain as he did so, but she still remained unconscious through the sting. The cry of pain from his patient brought the dark clad teen back to his senses, and he narrowed his amber eyes.

"What a cowardly way out of a fight. To use a hostage, a sick woman at that, is just gutless. Congratulations, you're a wimp."

"Hey! Don't be an ass! I have my job to do, so deal with it!"

"You're still a spineless bastard."

"All is fair in love and war," Cryille spat as he backed off. He stumbled a bit, the pain from the wound on his back making it a bit harder for him to walk properly, but when he was far enough away, he turned tail and ran, pulling out his cell phone as he did and sending a mass message to his squad and telling them to attack anyone who might get in their way, and to meet at the nearby park. Quickly, he jumped down from the fence boards and into the lush grass and sat down, his back stinging in pain. He released the woman in his grip and let her tumble onto the grass, her form swaddled up in the blanket he took with her. With a frown, he pulled the blankets over her reddened face and tended to his back.

After a few minutes, most of his wound was patched up, and he was lucky it barely cut father then his dark hoodie, or else he wouldn't be able to move from the waist down. He heard footsteps, and he brushed his sandy locks back. "It's about fucking time you guys got here. I'm ready to head home. So let's go…," he said as he picked up the girl on the ground, but as soon as she was safely in his arms, he glanced down, his black eyes caught sight of some lit bombs under him, and he was forced to take the hit. He went flying through the air, his back singed and his wounds re opened and accidentally let Avrilina go as he did. While he landed roughly on the ground, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the same boy that had interfered with his first attempt at killing her had caught her and fallen back with her safe in his grip.

"Gokudera!" Yamamoto whined, "You need to be more careful around her right now! She can't defend herself from all of your bombs!" The silver haired bomber scoffed and flicked his cancer stick before readying another round of explosives.

"It's her fault for being so weak. She could have defended herself and not disturbed the boss if she hadn't gotten sick."

Yamamoto pouted and gently laid her down and inspected her for any visible wounds, which he didn't find. "You know, she beat you pretty badly earlier. It was kind of funny that you got beaten up by a girl! I bet that still hurts your pride!"

Gokudera's eye twitched and he considered throwing a bomb at the Japanese boy, but didn't because that would be disobeying his boss's orders, and that was something he simply couldn't do, so he settled for yelling at him. "Idiot! I wasn't on guard! It won't happen again!" Yamamoto simply laughed and covered her up gently.

"I'm still here!" Yamamoto barely had time to draw out his wooden blade and block the attack coming for him before the flurry of red flames was upon him. He blinked and stared into his opponent's black eyes, then cracked a grin and shoved him off.

"I remember you! You were the one who decorated the Espinoza Family's home! It's nice to see you again!" Cyrille twitched and scowled and the flames on his sword doubled in size as his agitation grew. On the sidelines, Gokudera pressed his palm against his face despite the fact that he Yamamoto was an idiot. He wasn't surprised, but it still baffled him that anyone could be that stupid and still be breathing.

"I didn't decorate the place! I slaughtered them all! What is so difficult to understand about that?!" He said as he slashed at the rain guardian. Yamamoto nimbly brought up his wooden sword to defend himself, and looked around for a way to use his Shigure Souen without the use of water, and without leaving Avrilina on her own. Cyrille's scowl flipped into a grin, and he pressed forward and forced the lanky teenager back a bit so that he was standing over the girl that they were protecting. "And I'm about to make you the next victim!" he snarled as he drew his sword away and threw it up into the air with a flick of his wrist, and flung his fist at Yamamoto roughly. The boy caught it with one hand, but the sword came back down into his opponent's hand, and he was forced to awkwardly defend himself against the blade. With both of his hands occupied, Cyrille was able to shove his shoulder into the baseball player's sternum and knock the breath out of him, then successfully flip him over his shoulder so their positions were reversed and he was hovering over the girl.

Yamamoto's back slammed into the ground, and he grunted softly with the sudden force, but that didn't stop him. He tossed his sword up slightly so that the tip of the now metal blade was pointed at his enemy's chest, and kicked it. It whistled through the air with a direct course towards Cyrille's stomach. He drew up his blade and blocked the attack, but failed to notice that the rain guardian had gotten up. He caught his katana and pivoted on his foot so that he was pointing his weapon at the storm guardian's neck. Cyrille hissed and didn't dare move in case the dumb boy did have the intent of ending him. "Game over, mister," Yamamoto chirped.

"Watch out, Vongola!" yelled a familiar voice, and Yamamoto turned his head to the source, but was meet with Lightning class flames blocking his field of vision, but they didn't stay for long, and when they were gone, he heard the soft thump of bullets falling against the grass. Cyrille took advantage of his lapse of attention, and slammed his sword against the back of his head, knocking the boy down and making him groan. He crouched down to gather up the girl, but before he could, he had to dodge a smaller blade and green flames by rolling away. With a snarl, he flung his blade up to meet the electrified one of another boy that he recognized. He smirked and twisted his blade about to knock him off balance, and slammed a fist against his nose, making the blood gush from it and successfully knocking the boy back.

"You stupid people don't know when to stop. You're outnumbered here." He hissed and kicked up his foot, knocking it into the boy's jaw while he was off guard. When he fell back, Cyrille twirled his blade elegantly, the flames lighting up the silver and gold designs on the hilt and making the large red gem on top glimmer with a deadly light. Just as he was about to slam it down and end the one underneath him, the Espinoza Lightning guardian summoned his static flames and shocked the one above him and made the blonde boy roll around in pain on the ground, giving jean a chance to get up and wipe his bloody nose off. He was taking great breaths, and his hazel eyes were wide as if in pain. After a minute of struggling with the pain, Cyrille was up and panting, his sword in hand. "Having problems, huh?" he sneered and dug in his pocket, then produced a small, transparent orange pill bottle from hoodie, "Couldn't find your medication this morning, could you? It's such a shame to see you die this way, with such little blood, you know, but I guess not everyone can die such a dramatic death."

Jean couldn't do much without straining himself too much and further injuring his already damaged heart. With his scarred hand, he grabbed at the cloth of his jacket, and tried to stabilize the beat himself, but it proved too much and he collapsed on the spot, his breathing shallow and his eyes hazy. Cyrille tossed the pills aside and stalked over, and slammed his dark shoe into his back roughly, making the drab dressed lightning guardian cough up a bit of blood with the force, and raised his sword, a sadistic grin on his face. "Ciao, Espinoza~" he cooed almost playfully as he swung the final blow.

A ball of light in the distance caught his attention though, and he stopped, the tip just an inch away from the back of Jean's brown locks, and he narrowed his black eyes. The orange color was something he couldn't miss, but he knew it wasn't a flame from Sawada Tsunayoshi, since he could see the flashes of his flames off in the distance fighting his squad members. He hadn't seen any information about him being able to make such a large flame, and his sky guardian was back in Italy with the rest of the guardians, so it wasn't their own. That only left one option, and it wasn't an option he liked. He glanced behind him just as he saw a flash of green. He parted his scarred lips to curse, but a fist had already met his face and had sent him flying into the ground and made him bounce with the force. As he arched up from the impact, a hand had snatched the strings from his hoodie and yanked him up, but another fist met his face and he flew back once more, but he was ready for the third impact, and drew his sword up in time to protect himself. His assailant had grabbed the blade instead of him, and had sliced and burned themselves on the flaming blade.

"You've cause enough damage in my life," she said lowly and tightened her grip, injuring herself further, but moment later, her own flames exploded from her hands and the sword's shining metal and lively flames became nothing more the useless rock. Cyrille blinked, then his dark eyes contracted in fear and panic, and he released his weapon as he turned tail and ran, but before he could, she was upon him and pinning him down by his back, her flaming hand poised for the kill, but she seemed to hesitate, her emotions conflicted in her green eyes.

This boy had injured her, both physically and mentally, and had nearly tried to murder her, and had attacked her when she was bed ridden, but she couldn't bring down her hand on his throat to end him. She knew he deserved every ounce of her hatred, and that it would bring her such satisfaction to turn him to nothing more than dust, but, she couldn't bring herself to strike. With a hiss, she delivered a rough kick to his face, making the skin split with the impact, and sent him flying into the side of the building. "Get out before I change my mind." Cyrille didn't waste a second and he got up and hobbled o as fast as he could. A few fleeing figures followed him quickly, guns and weapons flung over their back and cuts on their bodies from fighting with the Vongola.

Avrilina wrinkled her nose and curled her lip slightly before turning on her heel and returning to her lightning guardian, only she misjudged her strength and her knees buckled under her and she fell to the ground, her face slamming into the dirt painfully. The brunette hissed and sat up, clutching her bloody nose with two hands. "Some assistance would be very much appreciated…" she snapped as she tried to rise to her feet again, but only fell once more, but without injury.

"I'm sorry Avrilina. I need to make sure Jean is in stable condition before I tend to you… One moment," said Gabriel's calm voice from the side. She frowned and sat where she was, her eyes on her lightning guardian, who was now barely awake, but breathing a little easier then he was when she first woke up. He even glanced at her and smiled softly before relaxing and closing his eyes, which made her scowl and make an advance to the boy, but she was plucked up from her position on the ground by her upper arms and held just above where her tip toes could touch the ground.

"I'll just help you then!" chirped a familiar happy voice from behind her. Avrilina glared into the air and squirmed a bit, but it only made the baseball player chuckle. She could feel the vibrations through her green hoodie and orange camisole and in her bones, and she didn't like it.

"Put me down…" She muttered as she thrashed in his grip, but he didn't hear her low voice, and she was forced to raise it to a level the chatty boy could hear from a mile away. "PUT ME DOWN!" She hissed and flung her foot into his abdomen and knocked him onto his back, and made him release her. Yamamoto landed on the ground with a thump and the air left his lungs with an 'oof!' as he collided with the earth. Out of some miracle, she landed on her feet while still clutching her bleeding nose, though a little ungracefully. The baseball player pouted at her from his splayed position on the ground, then reached up and pulled her down next to him as gently as he could.

"You just recovered a few minutes ago; you're lucky you could even walk earlier. So relax a little with me here! It'll be nice!" He said as he wrapped an arm tightly around her in an attempt to keep her restrained so she didn't hurt herself. She wasn't too pleased with that, and she pressed her orange heels against his chest and pushed, but he only wrapped his second arm around her. "Stop squirming. I won't hurt you…I'm actually trying to help." She scowled at him and slammed her head into his, making him loosen his grip enough she could make her escape.

"Don't touch me," the Spanish woman snarled and stalked away, her mind off her injuries. "I will need to take up one of Tsunayoshi's sleeping areas tonight. I'll pay him back tomorrow morning…I can find my way there myself…Gabriel, I will need you to bring Jean to there as well, and keep an eye on him…but talk to me when you have a free moment…" The doctor blinked and looked at her, his eyes portraying his surprise.

"Oh, so you remember me from all those years ago?"

"I'm not stupid enough to forget a face that has helped me. I'll prepare him a space where I was. I remember from when I regained consciousness for a few seconds every now and then…," Avrilina murmured as she left the scene. Gabriel gave a sigh, but returned his attention to his patient.

"I don't believe there's any changing your mind now…I'll be right on it…"

* * *

This chapter wasn't my favorite, but it had to be done. I'm already starting on the next installment, where I'll be exploring more of Avrilina's personality off the battle field and introducing another guardian or two, so stay tuned in!

I have a few quick questions for you guys though. Do any of you like to roleplay? I'd totally love to have a group on Deviantart with this story, if anyone is interested. So throw me a PM. Also, do you think I'm setting a good pace so far with this story, or should I change it and go slower/faster?

Also, A BIG THANK YOU to OwOTunaFishAndPineapplezzOwO for offering to draw a cover sheet for this story and helping me with the Espinoza family crest. Hopefully, you'll be able to see the drawings by the time the next update is up.

Well, thanks or reading! Review, favorite and PM me, and you'll get your update faster!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Afternoon Shenanigans**

"…Would you relax, Gokudera? She's not that bad, I promise," Yamamoto said as he swirled the white liquid in his glass around while sitting down on the couch across from the fiery bomber. Gokudera's green eyes were narrowed onto the baseball player, a frown on hiss delicate face.

"Of course she's that bad. She's disrespected boss and treated him like trash! Women should be tame and respectful, not monstrous like that one," he spat back and glared down at the ground stubbornly. Beside him, Gabriel frowned and rolled his eyes at him and flipped a page in his medical book.

"You're such a naïve kid." Gokudera growled and turned his glare at the brown haired eighteen year old in the white lab coat, "Women aren't robots; they're not all the same. You need to respect that. About them and try not to sound like a prick. Most women don't like when men are mean to them."

"I didn't ask your opinion-"

"Ah, and I would hate to remind you she's the head of a very prominent family in Spain, one run solely by females."

"So-"

"Oh, and I do believe she's mentioned that she's beaten you badly once or twice before? Would you care to refresh my memory on the event?" Gokudera's pale features were tinged by a soft, embarrassed pink, and he looked away, but laughter from nearby made him glance towards his rival for the position of Tsuna's right hand man. He was cheerfully chuckling as he drank his milk.

"You're so funny, Gabriel!"

"I believe I'm being completely and utterly serious though."

"I didn't ask an opinion from either on you on this matter, so keep your mouths shut! She's a bitch, and none of you can deny that!"

"I appreciate your kindness on the matter of my attitude. If you would, keep your compliments to yourself so I don't have to know the extent of your affection for me," came a snappy, sarcastic tone from them. The silver haired bomber whipped around and found her behind him, his eyes parallel with hers and her hands on her hips. "Food is ready. Come sit at the table like civilized humans, and get Tsunayoshi, if you would." As she mentioned him, the boss of the Vongola family came downstairs, rubbing his eyes lightly. "Oh good, you're here. Clean up and come eat while the food is warm. Your mother went out earlier this morning for some last minute shopping. She said she would be back soon, so I took over breakfast duties so you would all be fed by the time you got up. Now hurry up; I don't want to wait forever for you." With that, she stalked back off to the kitchen. Yamamoto glanced up at Gokudera and blinked his great brown eyes in confusion.

"I thought she was still asleep. Don't Spanish people like to sleep in?"

"Shut up, baseball idiot, "he growled, but went to his boss's side like a puppy, and tried to assist him in any way possible. With a shake of his head, Gabriel rose, his sock covered feet moving him towards the kitchen at the command of his stomach. As he rounded the corner, he saw the smaller girl leaning against the wall, waiting for him. In her hand were four golden rings that were locked together loosely. On the top was a gleaming golden gem stone, and with a flick of her wrist, she sent it towards him and turned to go back to her work. Quick as a whip, he caught it and held it up and examined it thoroughly, trying to figure out what it was.

"It's an Espinoza ring, by the by. It won't assemble yet, so keep track of it without putting it on your finger," She said as she got out plates and mugs from the counter nearby, and walked to the stove. In the cups, she poured a serving of thick brown liquid from one of the pots to one of the cups and place it down, then went to a plate of golden tubes and placed them on the plate before finally topping it off with fruit and an egg, then brought it to him and shoved it in his awaiting hands and filling the rest of the plates. He blinked and looked at her, not sure what to think of her callously caring actions. She noticed it and flicked her head to the table. "Sit and eat."

He did, and when he sat down, the rest of the household started filing in, and one by one, she handed them their servings, until she was met with a certain storm guardian. Her eyes narrowed in anger and she frowned. "You don't get food with the attitude you have. Sit down and watch everyone else eat," she hisses and put his serving onto another plate, and walked out with the food in hand. "I'm sure Jean needs this more then you since he's still healing from last night." He watched her go out, not believing what just happened, but scowled and sat down anyway.

"Why is she such a bitch?"

"Well, the fact that you insulted her justified her actions, but I have noticed how she acts towards everyone," Gabriel said as he swirled the churro in his hot chocolate, then chewed it thoughtfully "and I've come up with an experiment, if you would hear me out." All eyes were on him curiously, "Well…She acts so aggressive towards men…What about women and children?"

Tusna blinked and placed one of his fingers on his face in thought; maybe he was right. If she opened up even a little bit to someone, maybe it would be good. They would have to observe how she interacted with Lambo soon; in fact, the little cow should have been awake.

Suddenly, there was a crash on the wall, and a certain black and white child was plastered against it, his face a painful red. He slid down and plopped on the ground, tears pricking his eyes, but before he could open his mouth, a baseball came and slammed into the five year old's face, successfully knocking him back onto the ground. A message was scrawled onto it in fancy script. Hesitantly, Tsuna went to him and looked at the ball, and shuddered, almost hearing Avrilina's tone in her words.

"Keep your calf in line or he'll be veal."

"…Well…Now we know she doesn't like babies…"

Tsuna shook his head, clutching the ball close to his chest in fear. "I-I can't put Kyoko and Haru in the way of her anger! They'll get hurt if they so much as look at her wrong!"

"Tsuna, we need to gain her trust, and if she can trust women, then that's the only way," Reborn said from nowhere, his pajamas still on as he ate. Tusna turned his worried gaze to him.

"B-But they'll get hurt…"

"We'll be watching them, don't worry. You can jump in and save them when you feel they need help." Tsuna seemed to hesitate, but a knock at the door made him freeze and eye the baby. "You don't have a choice anyway. They're already here." Tsuna drooped slightly, but got up and answered the door to see the two bright girls watching him.

"Good morning!" Kyoko chirped as she watched him with light eyes. Next to her, Haru looked around him.

"Reborn said that there was a girl here he wanted Haru and Kyoko to go shopping with today. Did she leave already?" It was at that time that the girl she mentioned walked down from upstairs. She blinked once, twice, and then fled the scene quickly through one of the open windows, her cheeks flushed red, and surprising everyone. Yamamoto blinked and looked at Gabriel.

"…Was that good…?"

Gabriel blinked, then smiled softly and got up. "I guess so. She didn't try to beat them up at least." He went over to the two girls and gently took the darker haired one's hand, a soft smile on his face. "I need you to get her to buy something nice today. She's been having a hard time lately, and it's up to you to cheer her up." Haru blinked, then nodded, a small blush on her cheeks, then smiled at the two boys happily and scurried off after her. "Gabriel turned back and grabbed his lab coat and shoes, then waited at the door for the rest of the crew. He knew that any moment Jean would come stumbling downstairs, and he did, his hair ungelled and messy.

"She wanted me to come down and talk, now where is she?" he grumbled, clearly still groggy.

"She's out shopping with a few girls! We're about to go see how they do!" Jean blinked and processed the chipper baseball player's words, then let a grin crawl across his face.

"Can I come?"

* * *

Avrilina had been running for a good five minutes before she had to stop or risk passing out because of lack of oxygen. Her breaths came out in ragged and uneven pants, and her forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and a string of Spanish curse words fell out from under her breath before she glanced up and noticed the two girls from before right by her and watching her with wide, curious eyes, and she flinched and backed away from them, an embarrassed red washing across her features. The dark haired one smiled and walked up to her, which made the wavy haired Spaniard back up slightly as if she was intimidated. When she hit the brick wall of a shop with her back, she let out a small whimper and watched her warily with her wide green eyes.

"Why did you run from Haru and Kyoko? We're not mean girls! Right, Kyoko?" Kyoko gave a nod and approached her as well.

"I think we're very nice. So what's your name?"

The taller girl looked around, searching for a possible exit, but she didn't want to take a chance with anything and opted for answering their questions, her Spanish accent thick as she spoke. "A-Avrilina..."

"Hahi! Such a nice name! You don't sound like you're from around here though. Where are you from?"

"España…"

"Oh! Tsuna must have met you while he was traveling a while back. Well, I'm Haru, It's nice to meet you!" She said as she extended her hand for the sky guardian to take, but it drew a surprising reacting from her. She flinched, but took the hand gently and shakily, her fingers trembling a bit, but she drew her hand back suddenly and curled up more against the wall, closing her eyes tightly and speaking in her native tongue in a rapid, unintelligible pace that made the two girls watch her in shock.

From in the alley, the group of boys watched silently, not used to this stuttering version of the Espinoza guardian. She acted like she was afraid of them, and as pitiful as it was, it was hilariously ironic to them. "I didn't think anyone could be afraid of Kyoko; she's extremely adorable!" Ryohei said, a bit loudly, and the others were forced to quiet him.

"Shut up lawn head or we're going to get caught!"

"Octopus head! You're not being any quieter!"

"I'll kill you-"

"They're on the move guys! Keep up!" Gabriel was right; the girls had somehow convinced Avrilina that they were friendly, and she had moved along with them and towards the shops along the outdoor mall nearby. Quietly, the troupe followed as they walked along, and when they stopped, they dove into the bushes and peeked out. The Spanish woman had stopped at a music shop, and was eyeing the guitar in the window, the one that was completely black, except for the red painted designs of carnations on it. She watched it for a moment, before going to turn away and continue on, but the two women has seized her and urged her in.

"It's our mission today to make you get something you want, and Haru saw the passion in your eyes when you looked at that! So let's go buy it, hahi!" Avrilina looked uncomfortable with their touch, and to rid herself of the sensation, she squirmed out of their grip and entered the shop and escaped their view for the moment. With a pout, Jean emerged from the bushes and brushed off his dark clothing.

"Why didn't she tell me she knew how to play the guitar? That's awesome."

"If I was her, I wouldn't tell you anything."

Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes at the bomber, "I really get why she doesn't like you. Stop being so crabby, and someone might like you."

"Plenty of people like me!"

"Probably not a lot of women though; I don't see how anyone could find your snarky attitude attractive. You should apologize to her and maybe you will have a chance to get off of her hit list. Gokudera narrowed his eyes at him and scoffed.

"I have no intention on befriending that nasty creature."

"I didn't ask you to make friends; I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to be friends with anyone. I'm asking you to be civil."

"I don't take orders from anyone except the tenth!"

"M-Maybe you should apologize, Gokudera." The hot headed storm guardian blinked and looked at his boss, a little surprised. "I mean, you don't have to, but maybe things wouldn't be as strained between our families as they are now, right?" Gokudera nodded and grinned.

"Alright! I'll do it!"

"They're coming back out!"

And the process repeated itself for a most of the afternoon; the girls would go into a shop and buy things, and they were followed. After a while, Avrilina began to relax a little bit, and the ghost of a smile almost crossed her features, but not quite. It went well, but nearing the end of their day out, the trio decided they wanted a trip to the hot springs, and the boys had to make the decision whether or not to follow them in.

"Shit…Well, what do we do now?" cursed Gokudera as they slipped through the entrance and into the neat building.

"Well, we have two options: We spy on them, or we wait."

"They'll be naked though! That's intruding on their privacy!"

"Well, what would you like to do, Tsuna?"

* * *

Avrilina brushed her hair back with her fingers in a weak attempt to tame her wavy brown locks. She had exchanged her normal clothing for a white towel that wrapped snugly around her muscular build and only just covered her up, behind her was Kyoko and Haru, who were also in similar white towels, though, it was a bit bigger on their smaller forms. The sky guardian was still a bit wary of the two, but they proved to be trust worthy for the moment, but she wouldn't get into the springs without her weapon and rings nearby.

"Are you ready, Avrilina?" She blinked and nodded, the soft pink color returning to her cheeks when they spoke to her. She followed the two to the spring, only to find that someone else was already there and relaxed in the water, her black hair floating on top of the water and her eyes closed in happiness. As not to disturb her, Avrilina slid into the water quietly, her towel nearby. Suddenly, Haru's squeal made her nearly jump out of the water and pull out her weapon, but she stopped herself. Across from her, the small woman had gotten quiet a scare too, for her golden eyes were now open and darting around in suspicion.

"Hahi! Haru forgot something at one of those shops! We'll be right back, Avrilina! So relax! We'll buy lunch on our way back!"Haru said as she darted off, dragging the Sasagawa girl behind her.

"..Okay…" she murmured as she relaxed once more and allowed the warm water to relieve some tension on her muscles. It was short lived before she heard the water move with someone as they approached her. She opened one eye, and saw the girl from before a little too close for comfort, and she slid away, taking the towel she was eyeing.

"...What's in your towel…? Most don't bring out their possession in fear that they'll get wet…" she said, her Vietnamese accent marking her every syllable.

"S-Something of importance…" Avrilina replied and hugged the bundle to her face and above the water.

"You seem nervous," she pointed out, her eyes still locked onto the Spaniard. Avrilina, while feeling uncomfortable at the presence of a woman, was more irked at the fact that she was being so nosy, and her own eyes narrowed. The micro expression made the woman smirk softly and relax in the warm water. "I see…I suppose we need to be 'friends' before I can ask such personal questions…I am Kim Tran, and I hate being warm."

"Avrilina….If you hate being warm, why are you in the hot springs?"

Kim blushed slightly, realizing that she was right, and looked away stubbornly. "The water does relax your muscles, as much as I hate to admit it…"

"I see," she murmured and sunk under the torrid water, her green eyes at level with the water. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, the tension in her shoulders easing away from her with the steam. The peace and quiet of the soft chirping birds and the summer wind blowing through the think curtain of bamboo was something she had never experienced in her life in Spain, and it was something she would have liked to get used to. Only, with the exception of a certain Vietnamese girl, who surprised Avrilina again by being too close for her comfort.

"You know, for the Espinoza boss, you're not all that beautiful," she said as she rummaged through the bag of rings. "And how do you operate these? Is it a puzzle? I'm not even good at those." Avrilina opened her eyes and hissed, not liking that she was being insulted so offhandedly, and with a surge of rage, she shoved the girl into the water and seized her rings, returning them once more to their proper place and got up, wrapping her towel around her and storming off, only, she was yanked back onto the ground by an angry Asian woman.

"Don't think you're getting away with that so easily."

Avrilina's eyes narrowed and she swept her foot around, making her let go of her towel she was hanging onto, and crushed the capsule in her hand, her anger rising with the flames that radiated from her ring. "You're pissing off the wrong woman."

Through a slit in the bamboo, there was an unwanted audience watching the two duke it out. For most of them, this was better than television or anything else in their minds. They knew it was wrong, but it felt so right watching two girls fighting each other with only a towel that flitted around every time they moved. The original group of five had dwindled down to three; Tsuna and Gabriel had noticed the two younger girls leaving the building, and had gone to make sure they were safe, so not it was just two Italians, who were fighting to keep their eyes away, and one Japanese boy who was too dense to realize that they were practically watching girls bathe. He gave a soft laugh and watched intently as they moved quickly about. "They're really fast; do they play the Mafia game too?"

"Shut up!" Gokudera hissed as he dabbed gingerly at his nose to rid himself of any blood that might have dripped from it. "And stop watching! You're being such a creep!"

"Gokudera's watching too!"

"Am not!"

"Both of you quiet down before Avrilina comes over and tries to rip our heads off!" Jean hissed as he took another peek before looking away shamefully and whimpering half heartedly. "I shouldn't be spying on my boss…"

Something whizzed by and stuck into one of the thinner stalks of bamboo, slicing it in half and lodging itself into the next one and right by Yamamoto's face. He blinked in surprise and glanced at it, only to see another lodge itself in its place with the text "What the pho?" imprinted on the side dangerously close to him now. Gokudera turned to run, but was cut off with a halberd blade lodged in his path and a scowling, towel clad Spanish woman in his way. Her hand clenched tightly onto the end of the weapon, keeping it firmly in place. "I thought I left you at Tsunayoshi's home," she snapped, her grip on the metal rod tightening to the point that the flushed skin on her knuckled turned white, and her glare turned even the hot springs into a tundra.

Gokudera couldn't let a woman break his manly pride though, and he narrowed his own stormy eyes. "We came to make sure you didn't kill Kyoko and that other stupid woman."

"So watching my while I relax is protecting them? Enlighten me, if you would."

"T-That's not it," he barked and tried to escape, but a fist blocked his way and nearly made contact with his delicate face. "The tenth wanted us to stay and make sure you weren't in any trouble-"

"Well you can tell your tenth that I don't need his crappy help from his stupid guardians, especially from you," the woman snarled and retreated, "Get the hell out of here before I really do kill you. I;ve been contemplating it for a while."

Gokudera snapped at the slightest hint of her insulting his boss, and whipped out his dynamite, his temper flaring as he gave a puff into his cigarette. "Don't you EVER insult my boss again, woman!" Shee wrinkled her nose and yanked her weapon out of the wall and threw it over her shoulders, her eyes narrowed.

"Under other circumstances, you'd be beaten already, but I seem to be having a wardrobe malfunction. Give me a minute-"

"No! You're going to deal with your actions and eat your words!" he said as he tossed the bombs at her. The ends lit and jetted towards her in a zig zag pattern. With a snarl, her flames flared from her palm, and the bombs were now just rock. Before he could do anything else though, she had slammed her fist into his chest and successfully knocked him back into the water before diving on him and making a mad attempt to pin him down. The storm wouldn't be quelled that easily though, and he kneed her in the abdomen and sent her on her back under the water and wrestled for dominance. He seemed to forget who he was playing with though, and she hooked her leg behind his and yanked roughly, diverting his attention and knocking him over again and bolting up for air before directing her glare at him. Their eyes connected and sparks flew between their green gazes as they went for each other once more and butted their head against each other's, their arms locked as they struggled against each other. With a growl, he managed to throw her off balance, but with quick reflexes, she locked her long legs around his torso and dragged him down with her. After that, the fiery duo resorted to simple tussles and rolling about in the water, the splashing and annoyed, angry noises making the fight sound like a pair of angry cats tussling rather than two people.

Finally, the guardians had decided to step in and intervene in their childish brawl. Avrilina had her legs still wrapped around him, but her long fingers were wrapped around his tight fists and were fighting to keep him from punching her, her breaths uneven and ragged. Jean gave a shake of his head and chuckled as he yanked her off of him, Yamamoto on the other side restraining the Vongola storm. Avrilina hissed and thrashed in his grip, but he was successful in dragging her off the boy and keeping her restrained. "Oh hush you. This isn't worth it. "

"Let go of me!" she barked and slammed her foot into his shim, making him yelp and release her, but instead of resuming her petty fight, she stalked towards the changing rooms, her hair soaked and wild in droopy waves. Jean ran a hand through his hair as he watched her go, and shook his head. "Are all women this temperamental? She was so nice to me this morning." A fist slammed onto the back of his head, knocking him forward, and Kim stalked to the rooms after Avrilina.

Gokudera was panting, his silver locks drenched, and his bombs soaked and useless and his white shirt now see-through. With a growl, he slapped Yamamoto's hand off of him and tried to straighten himself out. Yamamoto gave a chuckle and looked at the front of his shirt, which as now soaked as well, but the lucky boy had a tee underneath and just peeled off the wet portion. "That looked like fun, Gokudera! You may have made a new friend!"

"New friend!? Yeah right, baseball idiot!"

"You never know! Maybe you'll like her!"

He snorted and stalked off through the now ruined bamboo, his mood worse than before.

* * *

"…You two seem to have some serious tension between you," said Kim as she slipped her shirt on and patted it down flat. Avrilina snorted and twisted her long unevenly parted, wavy bangs around her finger and pinned them with a bobby pin so she wouldn't have to deal with them being in her face.

"Or really now? What made you think that-"

"Sexual tension." Avrilia chocked on her own spit in surprise and turned her angry glare to the girl beside her and hissed, her cheeks pink at the notion of her and someone else being sexually intimate. Kim shrugged and brushed through her damp hair. "I'm just saying. I thought you two were about to-"

"I DON'T CARE!" Avrilina hissed and grabbed her bags and stormed out, not bothering to wait for the other one. Kim blinked her gold eyes and shrugged, and once she was out of view, pulled out the golden ring she had been hiding in her towel. It had an ovular stone on it, and the ring was in a intricate puzzle that she couldn't put together. With a sigh, she placed it safely in her pocket and rose, gathered her things, and left.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time the brunette had decided to return to the Sawada residence for the night to retire. She entered the house, not surprised to find the door unlocked, and slunk past the front, making sure that she wasn't disturbing anyone else with her movement, seeing as everyone else was asleep. By chance, she glanced over to see a pair of greenish eyes staring at her from the couch, which made her narrow her own eyes. "I'm not in the mood to fight with you right now-"

"I don't want to fight." She raised a skeptical brow, which made him hiss and nearly blow her up, but he bit his tongue and swallowed his pride for his boss. "I want to apologize."

"You do now? This should be good."

"Stop being so snarky and listen for me for just one minute!" He whisper yelled and approached her. She snorted and rolled her eyes, but otherwise stayed quiet. "Look, I shouldn't have said what I said this morning; it was wrong. And this afternoon. I shouldn't have done any of it, and I'm sincerely sorry with all of my heart." She watched him for a minute, then turned her back on him.

"No you're not. You really and truly couldn't care less about my emotions," she stated bluntly, which made him flinch and snort indignantly, "but I respect that, seeing as I really don't care much about you either…Now don't tell me things you don't mean." She said, and grabbed his wrist with her free hand, and walked to the kitchen. "Come on…I'll make you some desert and hot chocolate to make up for this morning's missed breakfast."

* * *

Wow, I'm on a roll here. Two chapters in less than a week? That's a new record!

As uneventful as this chapter was, I feel like it gave a little insight into the characters other personality traits outside of serious battles, and it was really fun to write. Was everyone in character? I had the hardest time writing Haru and Kyoko since I never really noted them much in the anime/manga (in all honesty, I've never read or seen the manga or anime, but Wikia is my reference, along with clips and amvs.)

I have a question for you though! Some serious plots are coming to surface soon, and I'm curious what you'd like to see happen. Send in anything you think would like to see happen, whether it is just fluff, or a major plot point; I'll be glad to consider anything thrown at me!

I've selected all of Avrilina's guardians, but I need bad guys for the three mafia families that are antagonizing the Espinoza, and some minor characters, so I'll be using the other characters sent in for other those, so don't be too disheartened that your character wasn't chosen for the Espinoza part. They have three more chances to be picked to be included.

I cannot stress enough how much I love reviews! They are my favorite thing in the world, and they give me such hope that people really like my story, so please review for me! Maybe this story will be one of the really popular stories on the site! That would be really awesome!

Well, thanks for reading! Review, favorite, pm, and share this story with others, my lovely readers! I love you all so very much!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Rain, Ten Years Later**

"Boooosss!" whined Jean as he walked down the streets of Namimori, his hand cupped by his mouth to amplify this shouts as he looked for the woman he dubbed as his leader. "Booooosss…We want to ask you something! It's been months and we still haven't figured out these damn rings! I've solved it, but it won't stay together! I don't get it!"

"Hush Jean…" said Gabriel as he ran his hand through his hair and pushed his glasses up a bit. 'But I'll admit these rings are frustrating…I've put mine together, and it stayed for a second before it just pushed itself back to this…" he wiggled the pocket of his lab coat and sure enough, the linked rings jingled inside. Jean rubbed between his eyes and dug in his pocket, and dug out a creamy yellow lollypop that looked as if it could barely fit in his mouth, and unwrapped it, then shoved it in his mouth and sucked on it thoughtfully. Gabriel raised a brow, which made his shorter counterpart look at him questioningly. "What flavor was that?"

"Banana of course! That's the best flavor!"

Gabriel shook his head slightly, his lips quirking up a bit, much to the lightning guardian's displeasure. "Alright. Don't get too absorbed into it now. We still have to find her."

"Well, we've been out, maybe she went back to the Vongola…"

"It's the best guess we have now…" Gabriel said lowly as he rounded the corner and trekked back towards their next destination. Jean followed him and glanced up at him, pouting playfully with the stick of the lollypop jutting out his lips.

"You're too tall."

Gabriel looked up and thought for a minute, seemingly deep in thought, then chuckled. "Maybe you're just short."

"Just by a bit! Avrilina is just really tall!"

"Don't worry, short stuff. You'll get your growth spurt soon, and I bet you'll get taller." Jean looked up and nodded, intent on sucking the flavor out of his sweet treat, and the silence fell between the two for a brief time as they walked along. As they approached the Vongola house though, they noted that it was a lot quieter than usual. There was no arguing between hot headed teens and five year olds, and no laughing from the dense one; it was nearly silent.

"What happened in there…? Like seriously…it's too quiet…" Jean said as he pushed open the door an peeked in, only to be met with the front of a large gun. "SHI-" he managed to choke out before it swallowed him up and spewed smoke out in his place. Gabriel, out of instinct jumped back and watched where the boy was before and coughed as the smoke invaded his lungs. Gabriel blinked and looked at man, who looked eerily similar to the lightning guardian he was talking to moments before.

His hair was cut into a military style that was too short to even get a good handful of the light brown locks, but his dark hazel eyes were still the same: lighthearted and friendly, even when they were wide with surprise. He was out of his jacket and dark pants, and instead had a loose, not to mention messy, light green dress shirt on and a pair of dark brown pants. He blinked and looked around, then laid eyes on Gabriel and smiled. "Oh hey! We're the same height now!"

The eighteen year old blinked and glanced at the suitcase in his hands, then back at his face and raised one of his dark brows. Jean looked around, his eyes narrowed a bit in thought, then it occurred to him exactly where he was. "DAMNIT!" he cursed loudly and rubbed his forehead, "I needed to get this to the Vongola! Shit…And I was so close!" He took his hand away from his forehead, and Gabriel noticed that his ring was assembled on his hand, the green stone glaring mockingly at him. "It'll be just five minutes…Right?"

"Not quite…" said a voice behind them, and they both looked back at the man in the tuxedo behind them, who was busy fooling with some of the papers on the couch. His silver feathery hair was tucked behind his ears as he examined the notes on the papers. "It's been at least an hour for me, and I'm still here…"

Jean rubbed his forehead again. "Damnit Gokudera…Something messed up in the Bazooka then…Your family needs this…" He glanced at Gabriel again, and grinned, then shoved the suitcase into his arms. "Here! I'll send you into the future, and you can deliver it! Okay? Here, and give this to my past self, and here's yours!" he chirped happily, and shoved two boxes into his pockets. "You'll be able to use them once your ring is together!"With a shove, Jean sent the boy back into the awating bazooka, producing a haze of smoke, and in his place was a much taller and older looking version of the same boy. He was wearing a practically what he was only moments ago, but the sleeveless shirt was replaced by a long sleeved button up shirt, and around his neck was an orange tie.

"…What just happened…?"

"I think I cut back the time where we all assemble our rings!" he chirped happily. Gabriel pressed his face into his hand.

"jean, you could have fucked evey bit of our lives by sending them into the future…We're not sure what's going to happen, seeing as there's been a malfunction with the ten year bazooka, according to the young vongola…"

"Ah crap…I didn't think about that, but too late…We need to find the others and hit them with the bazooka! So then we can have them all in the same place and help Avrilina!"

"You're such a fool!"

Jean grinned and pointed to his ring. "I remember fondly trying to three years to piece this together until she finally helped us out… It was pissing me off within the first three months. So I want to relieve myself of those three years, if I can." Gabriel held up his ring as well, which was identical to the lightning guardian's own ring, only with a shimmering yellow stone.

"I have one too, dummy. I took as long as you."

Instead of replying to his comment about the Espinoza rings, Jean's hazel eyes were locked onto the doctor's second ring on the same hand. It was a simple band, with no jewels and only an elegant engraving of some unidentifiable initials. Even though he had never seen it before, he knew what it was; he wasn't stupid. With a pout, he crossed his arms. "When did you get that?" Gabriel glanced at his ring and eyes it, and then his lips broke into a grin.

"Not too long ago."

"You never tell me anything…Let's get going."

* * *

The younger Gabriel had landed smack dab in the middle of the Vongola's meeting room, his arms still holding the suitcase tightly. He blinked and glanced around, seeing everyone's confused stares at him, and glanced away, a little embarrassed at his ungraceful entrance. "A pleasure for you to join us again, Gabriel," Reborn said from his perch nearby, "and I see you have what we need."

"I do…Jean from this time period wanted me to give you this…he said it was important." He said as he placed the case onto the table and opened it. Inside was a simple device that looked like a flash drive. Gently, he pulled it out and handed it to the Arcobaleno. Reborn eyed it, and while placing it into a device connected to the nearby computer, explained its importance to the group.

"This is a special device that enables the cameras trained on our allies to turn on, specifically the Espinoza boss," he said as he typed in a short access code.

"Espinoza boss?! You mean-"

"Yes, Gokudera. The Avrilina from this time period is the ally of the Vongola."

Tsuna's face lit up, and he watched the screen for any sign of the Spanish woman. "She's a great ally! How did we get her to help?"

"…Watch the screen…"

Suddenly, there was a flicker of movement across the screen that was barely noticeable, and all eyes were on the screen. The darkness veiled everything, but there was a noticeable flash of green, and her figure could be seen as she moved, but only barely, for she moved too quickly for the camera to focus properly. Her heels were recognizable from anywhere though; with a white and red plaid pattern complete with small red bows, they were far too flamboyant not to be hers.

"She's still so childish with her shoes…"

"They're specially designed for her; they allow her to channel her flames through them, and it gives her flight. She has a more primitive design in your time period, but it's similar to what she has now."

She passed under a streetlight for a fleeting moment, and her hair, now long and tied together at the very bottom and swaying slightly as she moved, purpose in her step. She walked towards an empty warehouse with the number 49 painted on the side in chipping red ink, and with seemingly no effort, slammed her fist into the door and broke it open, which surprised everyone, as much as they expected it from her.

"S-She's still terrifying…" Tsuna whimpered, but kept his eyes on the screen as she walked in. The camera angles switched, and displayed the inside of the building from the corner, giving a full view of the battle field before zooming in on the two contestants. Avrilina, while her personality may have not changed, had changed physically. She had matured greatly, and her curves were fully developed, along with her chest and hips. Covering them was a small black dress that clung tightly to her hour glass shape and long thin arms, but showed her strong legs. Her dark wavy hair framed her face with loose strands, and cascaded down her back until it was gathered together near the end with a small bow. Also, around her waist was a thin chain belt that held five boxes together. She was much more beautiful, but still held the air of authority around her.

Across from her was a boy not much older than fifteen, but his hair, long, wild and red, was tied back in a simple ponytail, but fell down to his mid back in a sea of flames. He wore his grin proudly, displaying rows of sharpened teeth, and played with the purple rosary around his neck. Under it was a tie that was messily ties and skewed, along with his misbuttoned checkerboard dress shirt. His blue jeans seemed to be acceptable, until the massive rips in them were noticed and the studded, loose belt on his waist worked its way lower onto his thin hips. He tapped his fingers together and played with the cross of the rosary in his hunched position on the floor. "Haha~ You came! What fun!"

Avrilina, in her typical fashion, didn't waste time, and snatched one of orange boxes from the chain and held it up, slamming her fist into it and injecting a flurry of flames into it. The clicks of locks coming undone was heard, and after a moment, it opened in a flash of orange, and with nimble movements, she twirled the long pole in her fingers and held it threateningly up with one strong arm, her green eyes narrowed. "I'm not here to play."

He cackled and watched her, his icy blue eyes contrasting his wild hair. "Of course you're here to play. I'm going to win, and there's nothing you can do about it, pretty lady, because you're a lady."

Gokudera scoffed lightly and chuckled. "She's going to be pissed."

And she was very angry, but instead of charging in recklessly, she snorted and lit her ring up once more, and slammed it into the side of the weapon, opening one of the small ports that lined the handle. A small golden chain popped out, and with the flick of her hand, she attached it to the bottom of her revamped halberd. The weapon was now more complex, and with the addition of the ports that were like box weapons, there was a large crest where the blades and spear head at the top came together. While it wasn't colored, the stargazer lily in the center was visible, but a black snake wrapped around it and it peered out at the world threateningly. The indent of chains was discernible, and with a small, clear jewel was noticeable in the center of the lily. The blades, instead of being gold like the rest of the weapon, were a dark gray that shimmered slightly with a diamond like sheen. With a snarl, she tossed the halberd like it was nothing, and it flew towards the boy at mach five.

He chuckled and moved easily out of its way, but stumbled a bit on accident. He glanced down at his black leather boots, and found the gold chain wrapped around his left ankle and yanking him back, but it wasn't the original chain; one had split from the original and caught him. With a hiss, the woman yanked him back, and by chance, he noticed the clear jewel on the axe had turned a shade of purple, and he made the connection quickly. He flew through the air, his long red hair streaming behind, and crashed into one of the walls. Gravity took hold of him, and he slid down and landed on his shoulders and was propped up against the wall so he was practically flipped, but with the hair out of his face, the tattoos on his face were visible.

On his lips was a permanent Cheshire grin that stretched from ear to ear in black and white, and a few small black stripes on his forehead were visible. In addition to it, the area around his eyes had seemed to be permanently outlined in thick black ink too make his blue eyes pop out. Avrilina narrowed her eyes and yanked the halberd back into her awaiting hands.

"I see the game now. Your axe reflects the type of box you open, right?"

"You're smart, I'll give you credit for that."

The boy watched for a minute, eyeing her sky ring, then returned his gaze to her eyes and a wicked look stretched across his face. "You have sky attribute flames…Would your baby have had those flames too?"

"Baby?" Tusna asked, and looked at Reborn for answers, but his black eyes were stuck on the screen and watching the woman's reaction to the comment. Her eyes widened for a second, then returned to dangerous snake like slits, and her whole body began to quake in pure fury. The grip tightened on her weapon, and her knuckles turned a ghostly white. Suddenly, her flame spiked, and she ripped off her three boxes and dropped them along with her axe, and went for the boy, her flames from her feet propelling her forward. He smirked and dodged her boy rolling, but she followed angrily, and he rolled and rolled like a child, until she caught up with him and grabbed him by his skull and slammed his face into the ground, screaming like a banshee in unintelligible and quick Spanish.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" She screeched in clear English at one point, her teeth clenched and her eyes now wild with uncontrollable rage, but the boy looked calm even as he was getting beaten. With her nails bared and her flames raging, she sliced clear across his face and lip, leaving large indents that were sure to scar.

"Sh…She got pregnant…?"

"Yes…And she was about to have it, but the enemy attacked, and it was lost in the process."

When she went to strike again though, her form disappeared, and instead, was replaced with a smaller, younger and considerably less angry and more casually dressed version on herself. The younger version of the Espinoza boss blinked and looked down in confusion, and that's when the boy chose to strike.

Quick as a whip, he flipped her over onto her back, making her yelp in pain, and pinned her arms down at a painfully awkward position that made her hiss and clench her jaw tightly. He cackled and grabbed reached into his pocket, and yanked out a small purple box with puffy cloud decals on it, both of his wide grins stretched across his face.

"Let's play a game, baaaybeee," he cooed and injected the flames into the box and released the creature within. He grabbed the sharp rosary around his neck and took it off with one hand pinning her arms up, and plunged the point into her shoulder, drawing a howl of displeasure from her. The boy cackled and twisted it painfully, drawing another scream from her, before releasing her and backing away, the twisted look of pleasure in his eyes. "Better run. He'll get you."

Avrilina glanced up, her hand clutching her bloodied shoulder, and her green eyes widened in fear as she stumbled back. In front of her was a man, tall, thin and white as a sheet, and clad in a tuxedo that covered his slender form. The blood left her face when she saw his, or lack of; it was a clean slate with only the slight rises and dips where his eyes and mouth should be, but she felt the chill of it watching her with want. Her lips opened and closed, and she glanced to the side to see the boxes and axe her future self had left behind, and bolted for the halberd, even if it wasn't familiar. He followed, close on her heels and his hand stretching out to grab her.

Her hand wrapped around the handle of it, and she twirled it around and pierced through its stomach. It stopped its advance, and looked down the blade though its belly. Avrilina tried to yank it out, but it didn't budge, and she noticed the lack of blood, or torn muscle, or anything. It looked like it had just gone though him and done nothing. In panic, she ignited her ring, and pressed it into one of the holes in the handle. Out came a geyser of water, soaking her already ruined purple plaid hooded vest and new dark jeans. She sputtered in surprise, but the creature seemed to not care, and tentacles the same color of his pale skin crew from his back and wrapped around her wrist tightly and yanked her forward, causing her to slam into the ground painfully. She hissed and grabbed the tentacle with her hand flaming, and petrified it with her flames. In its place though, came a barrage of more tentacles trying to wrap around her. She flinched in surprise, but danced and flipped out of the way of most of them, and back to her boxes and fallen weapon, which had returned to its box, and dropped them in her jacket pockets.

As she was flipping and twirling to avoid the grip of her pursuers, she was careful not to put any pressure on her shoulder in fear that she would collapse when it couldn't support her weight. By the time she was pressed against the wall with nowhere to run, the bleeding had increased and most of her arm was covered in crimson. Not only that, the blood loss had affected her performance, and she was barely awake to move out of the way of the next tentacle. Her breath came out in pants, and she stepped as if she was going to move, but a sharp pain in her hand had kept her from moving from the spot it was attached to the wall. She glanced down and saw the boy's rosary pinning her hand to the wall, but before she could remove it and run, the creature was upon her and had seized her body. Behind it was the boy, his eyes narrowed and the blood dripping down his face from the scratch. "You're my age now, and you're still so weak."

She hissed and wriggled around uselessly as he approached and place his face by hers, the mocking smirk still sprawled across his face. "So whatcha gonna do now? You can't really use your flames to kill him, and you certainly can't chop him up in your position, Girlieee,"he drawled with a fake loving tone, enraging her further. In retaliation, she swung her leg up with the help of the flames coming from her orange heels and landed a heavy hit on him and sending him onto his back. The creature responded to his master's pain by tightening its choking grip on her and making it difficult for her to breathe. He sat up and rubbed his face, a scowl now taking over his expression. "You are one fiery little thing. I'm glad that I get to kill you. You should know my name before you die. Its Vaughn," the scowl fell, and a he smiled. In reaction, the monster cut off her entire supply of oxygen and held tight onto her writhing body.

Suddenly, a soft blue blade of energy sliced off all of the tentacles, making him release her. She plummeted to the flood, but before she could hit the ground, a flash of shimmering blue caught her and brought her away from the monster before it could re grow its tentacles. The massive blue serpent darted across the floor, and as it passed Vaughn, it flicked its tail and sent him into the wall once more. Its fins swayed slightly with the length of its body as it moved, and it approached a man nearby. He was clad in a blue dress shirt with a dressy vest on top, and he was nearly as tall and thin as the creature. His long black hair covered the left half of his face, and trailed down to his mid back in a high ponytail that was kept up by a dark tie. His dark brows were interrupted over each of his dark blue eyes by a thin star. The snake brought the girl up to him and he leaned down and picked her up gently before the serpent turned and hissed at his opponent.

Vaughn rubbed his head, not pleased at how much he was being thrown and beaten about, but he glanced at his box weapon and grinned. "You ready, Slendy?" The creature remained impassive, but the red head gave a nod as if it had spoken to him. The shorter teen picked up his rosary that had fallen to the ground and frowned, but again, his emotions had flipped and he ripped it apart, sending the beads everywhere. The small balls lit up with purple flames and bounced towards the Espinoza boss and her protector, but he easily dodged. The balls bounced on the wall, and came back for him, only this time, they were doubled. The tall man blinked in surprise, but seemed to catch on quickly and managed to pivot on the ball of his foot to avoid the flames. The serpent hissed and coiled loosely around his master, and took the hits against his shining scales.

Inside the shield, Sakaki's breath came out in soft pant, and he glanced down at the younger version of his boss in his arms, his cheeks lighting of a soft pink. Of all times this could have happened to her, this had to be the most inconvenient…He had recently gotten reports from the other guardians that the younger Vongola kids were having trouble with the ten year bazooka, and were forced to stay in the future. He closed his eyes and the gears in his mind began to click together as he thought.

Gokudera's eyes were narrowed on the screen, his brain trying to think of a solution before it was too late, but it only took a few seconds for the boy inside to think of a strategy, and the snake that served as his shield got his commands. It seemed to relax just a bit, and the blue flames of the rain resonated gently off the outside of its body. When the beads hit the flames, they slowed down to the point where it looked like they weren't moving. After a moment, it returned to its box, and the boy was on the run for the door nearby.

"Go go go!" Yamamoto cheered from his perch in one of the chairs as he watched the screen with hope in his brown eyes. Gokudera wrinkled his nose in annoyance and shot him a look.

"They can't hear you, baseball idiot!" Yamamoto, though he was a little worried for the girl on screen, looked at his silver haired friend and flashed a grin.

"I know, but it's like cheering for a baseball game on the television. It makes you feel like you're part of the action, and that you're helping them! Besides! I can tell you're worried for them too."

"I don't watch baseball, and I'm not worried for her! I'm worried that we might lose an ally because of the stupid cow's haywire bazooka and its crappy timing!"

Yamamoto shook his head and returned his dark eyes to the screen, where the Espinoza boss had made it to her getaway vehicle and away from the scene. "I'm still glad they're safe." There was a soft static on the smaller screen nearby, and the man's face from before popped up, though his eyes were directed towards the ground and away from the screen that must have been attached to the car's front.

"The Espinoza hideout is too far away…we need to stop her bleeding…get the door open for us…" he murmured, his voice soft and low that it was almost unheard. The screen clicked off a moment later, and the large screen only showed the black Espinoza GTA Spano. Reborn watched it for a moment, and then turned his gaze to Tsuna.

"You seem to have a very important guest coming. You should prepare for her arrival."

* * *

I think I'm doing pretty well on updates as of late! I've had such a good muse!

I've got a little shameless advertising announcement for this instead of a question. I've made a group on Deviantart with my friend, and we're starving for new members, and while it's not KHR, you should totally check it out and join if you're interested! I'm the co founder (even thought I came up with the concept) , so check it out below, and I hope you join! Also, I'm still taking suggestions for anything you'd like to see come up in the next few chapters, so send in those ideas!

htt(p) : / / cityofscandal . deviantart . c()om

(you just have to take the parantheses and spaces out)

I truly love you all. Over 10 reviews in less then 24 hours? Wow! I would have updated much earlier if I didn't have my plate full this week, so keep sending them in, and if I get enough of them, I' might have another chapter for you by Sunday! PMs and favorites are welcomed as well!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: A Lesson with the Mist**

Avrilina arrived within an hour of calling the Vongola's hideout, and by some miracle, she was still conscious as they reached the entrance even though half of her body was covered in blood, and her eyes were hazy. They shouldn't have expected the Spaniard to go down without a fight; it wasn't in her nature to simply pass out easily. That didn't mean she walked in though. She had to be carried by her Rain Guardian, whose cheeks were slightly pink and he avoided eye contact with the girl in his arms. She was relatively still in his grip and at ease for the most part, but when she was met with the familiar stares of the younger generation of the Vongola, she narrowed her green eyes and hissed lowly in agitation, making the young Sky Guardian jump a mile high in surprise. He hadn't expected her conscious state to be that strong after receiving such a beating. The Rain Guardian shooshed her with soothing noises, and eventually, she tore her glare away from them and closed her eyes before being taken to a room where she could be patched up sufficiently.

Yamamoto laughed lightheartedly, his gentle brown eyes twinkling a bit with ignorant bliss. "I forget that she is so little with that big attitude of hers!" Gokudera narrowed his eyes at the Rain Guardian in annoyance and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"She's not short, baseball nut. She's my height."

"Gokudera is little too then!"

"Am not! Right, tenth?!"

Tsuna blinked and waved his hands in a weak attempt to flutter his way out of the brewing argument between the two. "E-Eh? I don't know…" he said, his voice a little shaky, but after a second, he calmed down and watched down the hall after the Espinoza boss, who was out of view by then. "But…I'm glad that she's here, as scary as she is…"

Gokudera scoffed and turned his nose away from the direction the said female was. "I'm not…She's such a nuisance! I'm kind of sad that she didn't get killed today-" Suddenly, a fist flew by his face, barely missing the pale skin, and he was forced to stumble back out of the way. It came for him again, but he was ready, and caught it, his teeth clenched in annoyance. Hazel eyes met his for a second before another fist went for his face. He managed to dodge it and his Vongola ring lit up with a bright red flame that mirrored his emotions. In front of him was Jean, his lips set in an uncharacteristic snarl and his fists curled up in anger.

"Don't ever talk about my boss that way!" he snarled, his emotions sending intensifying with his words. There was a slight crackling and the air burst into life with green electricity around his fists, surprising both parties. Jean blinked and as the powerful emotions died off, the intensity of the flames dwindled away as well. He blinked and stared at the small sparks jolting around his fingertips, and he redirected his gaze towards the Vongola, who were watching in interest. He took a deep breath and stormed away. "Next time, I won't walk away from you taking badly about her."

Tsuna shuddered and looked away. "Is she starting to make everyone more angry…?"

"No, I don't think it's that…I think it's because they care for her in a way similar to how we care for you, Tsuna," Yamamoto said as he watched the lightning guardian stalk down the halls. "Gokudera would try to kill anyone who talked badly about you, and he already has more than once."

"Of course! He's my boss!" He said a little hastily, "but that's not the point…Let's get back to training…"

* * *

Avrilina hadn't stayed down for long. Her wounds had barely just been fixed, courtesy of Gabriel, and she was trying to get back on her feet. Sakaki was trying to keep her down on the bed so she could rest, though he seemed to have forgotten his boss's willpower and determination. "Please boss! I need you to relax and let your wounds heal!" He murmured as he gently tries to keep her down without hurting her.

"Let me go," she hissed and placed her foot on his chest and shoved him away easily. He stumbled back and frowned, not liking how she was the angry, uncaring version that she was when she was fifteen. "I don't have time to waste healing. I can heal while I train." She grabbed her box weapons off the side of the table and held them in her bandaged hands. The boxes were much like the Vongola boxes with five solid orange sides with the Espinoza crest attached to each side on top of the color, but the top was more intricate. It was interwoven together much like her own ring, but there was a small hole that just fit the ring on her thumb. She remembered a similar hole on the handle of her new halberd. She put them on the bed as she retrieved her new clothing from nearby. "Turn around." She said as she started to remove her bloodied clothing articles.

Sakaki's face went red, and he did as told and covered his cheeks with his hands in a weak attempt to cover up the color that was rising. "I-I wish you would have told me before you started changing…" he said lowly and fiddled with his fingers to take his mid off of things.

"Don't get so flustered…" she said as she slipped the red long sleeved short over her softly tanned skin, "I won't hurt you."

"It's not that…" He glanced over his shoulder to see is she was decent, only to catch a glimpse of her red panties and he turned away quickly and tucked his head away.

"Do tell," she said and slipped on the black skinny jeans over her long legs and slipped on her orange heels.

"I'm….It's nothing…"

With a zip of her dark orange plaid hooded vest, she was dressed, and she turned to look at him. "I don't know you all that well right now, but if I have my facts straight, then I believe that I'm your boss. As your boss, I'm supposed to listen to your every problem and do my best to fix them. I won't force you to tell me, but keeping secrets from me won't help us in the long run," she said in a quick, hard to understand Spanish accent, and grabbed her boxes and put them in her deep pockets. "…If you are really my guardian, I'll be here for you…If I'm nothing else, I'm loyal…" She grabbed his hand and tugged it towards her face so she could see the completed ring on his finger. The blue stone stared back at her, but suddenly, his hand disappeared in a puff of smoke, and was replaced with a smaller one that lacked the ring. She blinked in surprise and looked at the person in front of her.

His face was just as flushed as the older version's, but it was definitely Sakaki. His black hair was shorter and instead of covering the entire left side of his face, he had a small fringe that hid his right side. Also, his face was unmarked from the scars his older self had, and he was more casually dressed then his older self with a blue sweater that was a little too big for his lean form, and dark jeans. His blue eyes watched her warily, and after a minute, she dropped his hand and stared back. He looked away after a second, and she rolled her eyes. "You can look me in the eye."

"I-I know…" he stuttered and looked back down at the shorter girl. "How did I get here…? And who are you?"

"I suppose the stupid cow's bazooka hit you as well…," she said and turned away to the table, where the older version of the boy in front of her had left his two box weapons. She snatched them up and slipped them into her jacket for safe keeping, seeing as he wouldn't be able to open them for a while. "I am Avrilina Espinoza…You should find Tsuna and alert him of your presence…"

"I know him…Where is he?"

"Hell if I know…walk around and ask people. Find me once you've gotten all the information you need," she said as she exited the room without glancing back at the boy. He blinked and rubbed his forehead in thought, then walked out a few minutes later to search for the Vongola guardian.

* * *

Tired grey eyes watched through the clear glass of the dark viewing room two stories up from the bottom floor of the one of the Vongola training rooms. The person was hunched up in the chair, his legs pulled into his chest and his head balanced on his knees. A few strands of his dark hair fell in his eyes and curled gently around his slender face. His eyes darted about behind a pair of grey hipster glasses as he followed the flitting movements of the person below. In eighteen hours, the Espinoza boss had figured out the puzzle that was her halberd, and had successfully opened her first box animal; he was impressed.

What he wasn't impressed with, was the fact that she wouldn't accept any help or allow anyone else in her space for the entire duration of her training. No one was allowed to come in, or she would strike at them, even if they were simply bringing her food that she refused to eat until she had figured out her boxes and what they were supposed to do. He bit his tongue in thought, and placed his lips to the microphone and spoke to her, making sure to word himself correctly so she would listen to him.

"I'm impressed, but not surprised, Avrilina. You knew how to ignite your ring when I first met you ten years ago, and you're very smart. You passed your physical training with flying colors," he said, and he spied the girl's soft smirk as she ran her fingers through her messy locks of hair. "But, you need work with your people skills." She froze suddenly, and her eyes narrowed and she looked up at him.

"Why would I need people skills if I'm just going to beat the hell out of them?"

"You need allies though…It would be better if you were able to communicate effectively without your…temper getting in the way."

"That's bullshit," she snarled, her lip curling up in agitation. Sen sighed and tapped the bright pink fabric of his trousers with a finger. She wasn't listening to him, but he had anticipated it and put his plan into action without consulting her first. Behind him, the door opened and he looked behind him to see a rosy haired woman behind him. He nodded and glanced back to the girl to see that she was already locked in a fierce glaring contest with the silver haired bomber. "What the fuck is this, Sen?"

"That is Gokudera…Bianchi has told me that you two are…well acquainted, for lack of a better word…He's going to be your partner in this exercise…"

"That's not what I mean, smartass! What is he doing here?!" The boy growled and butted his head against hers.

"I could ask you the same thing!" She responded by pushing back against him and narrowing her bright eyes.

"I've been in here for the past eighteen hours."

"Please…Listen for a minute…" Sen said with his voice soft and low. She snorted in annoyance and turned her gaze away from him and up at him. "This is something we agreed you both need…You won't like this, but it's a teamwork exercise. You have to work together until I release the illusion…It starts now." Avrilina's ring lit up, and she was about to activate the storm port on her axe, but the Mist guardian was faster than her, and inserted his ring into his box, releasing the animal inside. Avrilina blinked, and the two were in rolling green hills of some unspecified forest.

The girl hissed and slammed her flame covered fist into the tree closest to her, turning it to stone and destroying it instantly. "This is BULLSHIT!" she cursed and tightly clutched her fists, her nails digging into her injured palm. The wound reopened slightly, and the blood stained the white bandages with tiny spots of red.

"Stop whining so much, woman," Gokudera said and observed the surroundings. He could hear the rush of water somewhere nearby, but he couldn't tell where it was coming from. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before. "If we work together, we'll be out soon, and I'll be able to go back to the tenth…"

"NO. FUCK YOU, AND FUCK YOUR TEAMWORK," She barked at him and turned on her bright heels. "I can do this on my own!" The Storm Guardian narrowed his eyes, snatched her wrist and yanked her back forcefully, much to her surprise and distaste.

"If you would stop being such a stubborn BITCH, maybe something in this world would like you!" He hissed and tightened his grip on her thin wrist, making her hiss in pain. In response, her ring ignited, and she slammed it into one of the boxes dangling off her belt loops. The soft clicks resonated from the top, and before they could blink, a small ball of orange flames darted from the box and set its course for his face. It hit its mark, and a small slice was made across his pale cheek, and it doubled back and went to strike again. He released the girl, and moved to dodge the ball. It darted around him quickly a few more times and settled on her the girl's shoulder. The flames dispelled, and Gokudera couldn't tell what it was. It had two round black eyes that were settled on him in hate, and two small white ears jutted out from its puffy white body along with a four legs and a tail , but it could easily spread out in the palm of his hand and have room to spare. On its forehead was a burning sky flame that spiked with emotion when it laid its eyes on him. It looked more like a puffball then an actual animal, but it barked and snarled at him with its high pitched squeals, so it was alive.

Her voice was low and deadly, almost like a warning growl from a wolf. "If you ever think of touching me that way without my permission, I will end you." She looked at the small dog and gave it a silent confirmation for it to return to its box before stalking off, the rage making her shake slightly. He watched after her, then snorted and turned the other way.

"Fine…," he said under his breath. "I don't really need you either."

Away from the area, it only took a few brief seconds for Avrilina's energy to run out and for her to collapse on the ground, her face slamming into the dirt. Her breath came out in soft pants, and her eyes were heavy and sore. She hadn't slept at all for eight days, maybe more, and it had finally taken its toll on her beaten body. Her dry lips parted slightly, and her eyes closed over her bright irises. After a moment or two, she managed to finally drift into sleep after endless days and nights without sleep.

But only for a few moments was she allowed to rest. There was a sickening crack under her, and before she could react and jump away, it crumbled beneath her, and she was sent plummeting to the area below. A scream exploded from her lips in surprise, but was abruptly cut off as she made a splash into the water below. The current was strong and slammed her against the rocky walls and the bottom of the small, but vicious river. She slapped her hands uselessly against the water, but she couldn't coordinate her movements properly, because she was never taught to swim in all of her years of training.

The girl was lucky that Gokudera heard her shriek, and went to investigate. The bomber found the hole, and glanced inside, but saw nothing besides the darkness. He could hear her squeals and screams inside along with the sound of splashing water, and he growled in agitation at her stupidity. He knew he couldn't just leave her though, and he dove into the water after a second of thought. It didn't take long for him to find her, with all of the thrashing and noise she made along with the river. When he caught a glimpse of her, he dove under and swam towards her. Quickly, he made his way to her side and popped up right in front of her. He opened his mouth to tell her to grab onto him, but she had already latched her thin arms around his shoulders and was holding on for dear life. He blinked in confusion, unfamiliar with the scared side of her, but didn't complain since she was being obedient, and swam on the best he could with the waves and currents yanking at him and the girl hanging onto him, impairing his movements.

A little farther down, there was an opening just as the river curved a corner, and just beyond it, a natural underground waterfall that would kill the two mafia members if they fell down. If he didn't grab the small ledge just by the opening to the outside, they'd be in trouble. Gokudera growled and reached out and snagged the edge, but the extra dead weight on his back made it difficult for him to hold on tightly, and his fingers began to slip. Out of instinct, he began to fuss at the woman hanging onto him. "Damnit wake up! You're too damn heavy for me to be doing this by myself!" She didn't seem to hear him when she didn't respond to his badgering, and he continued slipping. Soon, he was hanging on by his fingernails, and he lost his grip ad began to float downstream and towards the waterfall. Just before they were out of reach, her hand slammed upon the ledge and dug in angrily as her body vibrated with her low, determined growl. Her green eyes were narrowed, and using her immense amount of upper arm strength, she pulled them close enough back so he could get his grip on the ledge as well.

The two got out of the alcove and laid back on the ground, their bodies aching and their chests heaving with the effort of trying to get out of the river. Gokudera groaned and sat up, rubbing his drenched locks. "I'm not helping you next time you fall into some water. Learn to swim."

She hissed and tried to get up, but her wobbly, sore body gave out on her, and she fell onto her knees. "I…I don't need your help…"

He scoffed and looked at her, then got up and yanked her up by her bicep and onto her feet. "You obviously do." Avrilina snarled in indignation, and ripped her arm away from him.

"I don't need help from anyone except myself. So mind your own business."

He narrowed his green eyes, and shoved her back onto the nearby rock wall, where her back hit roughly, and she let out a pained squeak. He stepped forward and loomed in front of her threateningly, making her blink in confusion and watch him warily. "What made you so damn angry at me? I thought we were on better terms after I apologized, but you're more pissy then I think I've ever seen you." Her eyes narrowed into slits, and she made a move to shove him away, but he caught her lethargic fist and pinned it to the wall above her. She began to panic when she realized that he could overpower her at that moment, and swung recklessly at him with her other fist, but again, he caught it and held both of her thin wrists in his larger hands. "No. Answer me."

Her lip curled up in agitation as she talked, displaying her white teeth. "I act the same to everyone! Don't think you're special!" He wrinkled his nose and pressed a bit closer to her now that he was more confident he could deal with her without getting too injured.

"Well let me rephrase myself. Why are you so angry to everyone then?"

She struggled against his grip and tried to inch herself away from him in discomfort while she growled lowly at him, warning him to keep away. "I've had a rough past-"

"That is no reason for you to act this way! Everyone has had a rough past, but they don't act the same way you do!"

"Stop acting as if you know anything about me!"

"You don't know me either!"

"Why do you care?!"

He paused for a moment, his thoughts suddenly stalled because of her question, but when he felt her struggle again, he pressed his hand against the rocky wall next to her face and watched her for a moment. "I need to know about you so I can protect my boss against you if the need arises. I won't hesitate to kill you if you even think of hurting him." She wrinkled her nose and watched him for a second, then suddenly slammed her skull against his. The impact knocked him back and made him release her. When he was just far enough away from her, she raised her leg and slammed her foot against his chest and he flew onto his back with the impact. He slammed into the ground with a grunt, but when he looked up, a soft smile had spread across her face for a second before disappearing.

"Alright…I respect that, but that doesn't mean I'll tell you all of my deep dark secrets. You'll have to find them out on your own…I suppose I can work with you for now, though…,"she said as she walked to him and offered him her hand. He frowned, but took it and stood up. She yanked him forward and placed her face by his, a frown on her face and her hot breath ghosting across his lips as she spoke. "I did tell you not to touch me though. Don't do it again." With a flick of her hand, she sent him away from her and walked away. "…It's getting a little dark…We should find some wood and set up some sort of camp…We can't stay cold and wet overnight." He snorted and flicked his hair about, sending wet drops everywhere, including on the angry Spanish woman. She flinched and turned back to him, an agitated look on her softly tanned face, but she turned away and stormed off into the rapidly darkening woods. He smirked widely in victory, and then set off in the opposite direction to look for supplies for them.

* * *

Sen pulled gently at his purple checkerboard scarf as he watched Avrilina interact with the boy. He wasn't sure what to do about them, and if he should push their relationship further. His fingers tangled themselves in the tassels as he submerged himself in silent thought. Bianchi, who he had forgotten about, disturbed him though, and made him flinch as she spoke. "I'm not used to Hayato interacting women in a pleasant manner." The dark haired boy blinked, and turned his gray eyes to her questioningly, and she continued. "He doesn't know how to care for anyone the way he cares for Tsuna…"

"I wouldn't think he would…He's his boss…Avrilina has difficulties to, but she cares for us deep down, even if she doesn't show it. If she didn't, all of us would have been dead long ago…"

"That's nice…She seems very aggressive, though."

"I suppose that's one of her better qualities…She needs to be aggressive to get her way in the mafia world. It's harder for women…"

"That is true…there's no place for a woman who can't get her way to be a leader…"

"She can be nice though…I just want her to have someone she can trust outside of the family…We need allies within the Vongola."

"It's important in this era…"

"For her survival…If I know Jean, he's doing something stupid right now, so she needs to learn how to deal with people she doesn't like in order to live…And…She doesn't seem as happy as she is in this time period…"

"Maybe they can help each other out…"

"That's the point of this exercise…She'll be fine; I know it…"

* * *

The two teens had managed to collect enough firewood to make a decent fire and keep up with it until morning. They had piled it properly, and Gokudera used his lighter to light the fire, then one of his cigarettes, which had dried by then. He sat across from Avrilina, who was eyeing him with a glare as he puffed on the cancer stick. "Stop glaring at me." She didn't say a word, but instead marched up to him and snatched the cigarette out of his lips and dropped it on the ground, then crushed the burning tip under her foot. The silver haired boy growled and looked up at her angrily. "What the hell was that for?"

"I didn't want to breathe that shit in, so don't do it around me." He snorted and grabbed for her, but he only caught the damp fabric that was hanging off her cold skin, and he realized that both of them were still cold and wet. He yanked her down, and pulled at the orange plaid cloth of her vest.

"Take it off."

She looked at him like he was insane, and slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me."

He frowned and grabbed at the zipper and yanked it down, making her yelp in surprise and blush a bit. "I want our clothing to dry. Take it off."

"I said don't touch me!"

"Well take it off!"

"You can't just ask people to strip right in front of you!"

"Stop being such a whiner and do it!" he said as he pulled his own black jacket off, along with his red hoodie. She held her hand in front of her chest and inched away from him, but didn't move quickly enough, and he yanked her hoodie off of her and placed it by the fire. With a hiss, she snatched his index finger as it came for her again, and bent it as far back as he could, making him grunt in pain and yank his hand away. "What the hell was that for?!"

"I said don't touch me! Por dios! Do you know how to listen?"

"Well if you did it by yourself, I wouldn't have to do it for you!"

She growled and grabbed at the wet cloth on her arms and scooted away from him, only to tumble over something behind her. She looked at it, and there was a large blanket and a can of food for the both of them. She scowled, knowing that Sen had put it there with the use of his illusions, and nudged them out of the way and scuttled back until she was sufficiently away from him. She looked at him, then growled lightly in displeasure. "I'll keep my clothing on until my vest is dry…"

He rolled his eyes, then picked up the can of stew and pulled the tab to open it. He sat down taking one of the convenient spoons nearby and began to eat it. The flames danced in front of him and provided him with something interesting to watch as he ate since Avrilina didn't seem to want to speak with him. After a moment of silence, a piece of wet, red cloth smacked him in his face, along with a pair of dark pants. "…Put them by the rest…" she muttered and drew the blanket tighter around her body and hid in the makeshift hood. He rolled his eyes, but placed them down next to the rest of the clothing that was drying.

"You see I'm right for a change-"

"I'll kill you."

They stayed silent for the rest of the time as the fire kept them warm. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the girl wobble slightly as the weariness began to set in. Her eyes were half lidded, and her lips hung slightly open in her bundle of blankets. Suddenly, she dropped on her side and curled up tightly; she was asleep before she even hit the ground. He sighed and finished the food he was provided, than laid down himself, only to realize how cold it was. He shivered and threw a glance at the girl that had the entire blanket to herself, and was forced to decide whether he should risk his life trying to get some of the blanket for himself. She seemed sound asleep, and after a moment of silent contemplation, he decided to go for it. Carefully, he grabbed an edge of the blanket and pulled softly to test her reaction.

She didn't even stir when he pulled, and he continued shimming the blanket from around her and towards him. He didn't need much, but it took a minute to get it unwrapped from around her. "Heavy woman…" he growled, and pulled it around him. He looked back at her to see her mostly exposed though, the skin of her long legs peeking out a bit. He blinked and noticed a bit of pale discoloration on her thighs, and pulled the cloth off of her slightly, and looked at the plethora of scars she sported all over her torso.

He narrowed his eyes and ran a finger gently across the largest one that ran down her left side, and she shuddered in her sleep at the cold touch on her bare skin. Gokudera noticed the location of all of the scars; they were only on her torso and upper legs and most of her arms, but never on her face, hands, or most of her legs. He removed his hand for a moment, but reconsidered, and adjusted her so she was under the blanket and warmed up more. She relaxed and snuggled her face into her arm once she was situated. The stars above twinkled as the boy watched them, a new mystery forming in his head. "Damn woman…What happened?"

* * *

Sen watched, his lips curved up slightly in amusement. "I think you're a little better off than before….Sleep for now, and you'll wake up in bed tomorrow…"

* * *

I'm sorry this update took so long, guys…I managed to injure my hands (not just one, but both) by doing nothing, and they aren't quite fixed yet. So it might take a little longer to update next time.

I thought Avrilina needed to learn a lesson in trust, so I put Gokudera in there. Hopefully, they're both in character, and this doesn't seem too cheesy.

Question time: Who's your favorite character out of the whole series? Overall, my top three have to be Gokudera, Yamamoto or Irie, though I find it difficult not to like them all.

Also, OwOtunafishandpineapplezOwO has made some wonderful fan art for this story, including the new cover. The link is below. Be sure to comment and favorite!

htt(p): / / owotunafishowo . deviantart # / d5ebea4 (The Espinoza Crest. The cover is in her gallery. Delete the parantheses.)

Alright! Thanks for reading, so favorite, review and send me a message!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Cloud Drifts In**

Avrilina sat in her dream world once more, her eyes closed and preventing her from gazing upon the lush outside around her. She knew this world she was in was a lie, and that everything outside of it was full of death, lies, and hurt. She did not want to gaze upon peace only to have it ripped away from her when she awoke from her sleep. Her fingers, bandaged up from the wounds she received a few days ago, dug into the soft soil beneath her, and yanked up a large handful. The wet, cool dirt squished between her fingers as she clenched her fists together, and seeped into the once clean cloth bandages and into her open wounds, stinging them softly.

A gentle, slender hand landed upon her shoulder, and she released her death grip on the dirt in her hands. "Don't be so stressed out…This is supposed to be your happy place, right?" She snorted and brushed the touch on her shoulder off.

"I don't think there's such thing as a happy place anymore, Kry…"

"There's always somewhere you'll be happy if you believe, Avrilina." She snorted in response, and the body of indigo flames shook its head and ran its fiery fingers through the grass underneath him. On the other side of the girl, a body of purple flames looked the indigo flames in its black eyes with its own gold orbs.

"Let her mope. She needs to find her own happiness."

"Tadeo…You seem to be forgetting who this woman is to us…She's our boss."

"She was never my boss; I never had a boss-"

A growl came from behind the purple flame, and a red flame that was much larger tackled it down, its purple eyes glowing angrily like the body of flames under it. "Of course she's your boss, dumb dumb! She's cared for you when no one else has!" The purple flame growled and smashed its face against the red fame, knocking it to the side.

"Be quiet, Syriak! No one asked for your stupid opinions!"

"You obviously care for her if you're here, Tadeo! Don't deny it-"

"Shut up," she hissed and bit her lip. The two arguing flames looked at her, a childish pout on their faces. "You three are here, and I've already spoken to Vasco and Lasaro before…So where is Emil?" The three flames looked down, their eyes a little nervous as they thought over their answers.

"…Stupid Villanueva wanted to wait to see you, 'until the time was right' as he so put it," the mist flame snorted and placed its soothing hand on her back. She sighed and drooped a little, the disappointment evident in her posture. "He'll come eventually, though…"

"I know," she said as she rung her hands together, her eyes still closed, "He's had his ways that always made me a little doubtful, but I trust him. He wouldn't leave me without some closure…"

"You seem sad…"

"It's nothing, Tadeo…"

The storm flame placed its hand on her short hair, ruffling it slightly. She shook her head and swatted it away. It grinned and sat next to her, then placed its hand against hers. "We'll be here for you, even if not in physical form…" She nodded and rubbed her thumb against its hand.

"I know…"

"There's something that needs to be addressed though…The new holders of the Espinoza rings have been chosen by you in the future, and will be sent to the future by your meddling lightning guardian one way or another," the cloud flame said rather bluntly.

"Jean…"

"You'll be confronted with the trials again, only in a time period where they were not meant to be preformed…If you manage to survive it, it could steal your victory in this era. Should you not, though," it paused for a moment, then continued, "You'll probably die…"

"I know…I wanted to wait, but I see no choice…"

The cloud flame looked at her, and then rubbed her knee with his hand. "Worry not, young one…My successor is near, and you can start your trails soon after…You must be wary of the Millfiore's threat against your family. Their main priority is the Vongola rings and the Arcobaleno pacifiers, but I'm sure they won't hesitate to try to snatch the Espinoza rings should they get the chance."

"You're aware that taking them isn't a simple task."

"You're not dealing with a fool of a man though; the person is a genius in every aspect of the word. Be wary, and don't underestimate him…Wake up child, for your last guardians are near."

* * *

Avrilina shot up from her bed, the blankets flying off of her as she clutched onto the clean material for dear life. Her breaths came out uneven and labored from the intense shock of the dream. Her body shook softly, and her vision became blurry as she clutched her head tightly in her long fingered grip. A cold sweat ran down her spine and onto the mattress, where it looked like she had been having a fit for the past few hours.

Avrilina bounced out of the bed, quick as a rabbit, and snatched her dry clothing off of the dresser while yanking off her pajamas at the same time. Her tan skin flashed the empty room for a second. Out of chance, she saw her marred body, and scowled before pulling on her long sleeved black shirt and her orange knit sweater. Quickly, she slid on her gray plaid skinny jeans and the orange checkered heels that were closest to her and took off out of the room, her box weapons dangling off of the chain belt that was secured firmly around her uncurvy waist.

She tore through the halls, her heels clacking as she sprinted across the hard floor. She didn't stop to consider the others she was passing and make her way outside with unexpected ease. She didn't stop until she reached the nearby city only to see that unfamiliar and threatening people stalked the corners. She scowled and crouched down lowly as she slithered around corners to avoid their dark gazes. Luck was on her side though, for they didn't seem to notice her brightly colored garb and she was able to efficiently and quietly dodge most of the patrolling people as she wandered aimlessly. She wasn't sure where she was going, but her instincts had long taken over, and she was just a body that they guided.

Finally, she managed to make it to the refuge of the nearby tree line, and blot through recklessly, but quickly like a deer. Her long legs made quick work of any logs or fallen trees in her way, and when she saw a mud puddle come up, she easily used the low tree branches and swung over it with practiced ease. If there was one thing she could not stand, it was her shoes getting dirty, so she avoided the puddles at all costs, even in her autopilot like state.

While she was rather robotic in her movements as she bolted around, her conscious mind was still intact, and she could see unnatural colors just beyond the trees and slowed slightly to investigate the cause before jumping straight in; she had precious cargo in her pockets and she couldn't afford to lose her unfinished Espinoza rings before she could find her remaining two guardians.

That was, until she heard a familiar howl of pain from the source nearby, and she took off full throttle, her vampire like fangs clenched, and a snarl bubbling deep within her chest. The brunette ripped off one of her boxes and slammed her ignited ring into the puzzle like opening, releasing her halberd from within. She wasn't done though; she inserted her ring into one of the ports, and a flash of red broke the weapon into two even parts: A long spear and a shorter axe. With the flick of her wrist, the woman hurled the spear towards the blonde man she saw nearby.

Something caught the spear though, and held it in its long, golden electrified grip, a growl rumbling in its throat. Avrilina hissed in response, and released her small white puppy from its box. With fresh energy in its system, it flew forward in a ball of flames and white puffy fur, its target being the man who was looking for her, but was intercepted by the other fox. Before they could move, she darted out and slammed her axe into the person's upheld pool stick, much to his displeasure. Quickly, she pivoted herself on the axe and tried to slam her ignited heel into the man's face, but again, he caught it as he twirled the long black pole. The brown haired Spaniard wrinkled her nose, and before he could injure her, she kicked her way off of him and landed on her feet. She pressed her ring into the cloud port of her box, and the purple fire covered chain came out and wrapped around both her box animal and the end of her spear, and yanked them back to her awaiting hands.

"Look what we have here, another Vongola brat, I assume?"

She growled and attached her Halberd back together and tossed the puppy down in front of the baseball player nearby. It flipped and landed on its tiny paws. The two foxes loomed in front of it, their snarls not intimidating the small white fuzzball at all as it barked back at them with its high pitched yaps. "Do not mistake me for one of them," she said and stood up straight, her green eyes blazing. "I'd rather be dead then be considered a Vongola." He raised a golden brow in interest, but still retained the bored look on his face.

"Oh, then who are you?"

"Someone who you shouldn't have crossed," she snarled and pulled out a third box, her ring igniting again as she twirled it around mockingly on her index finger. Below her, the silver haired boy twitched and opened his stormy eyes, then looked at her. He grabbed her ankle, his long fingers wrapping around it easily. She felt his touch and looked down, an annoyed expression on her face. He matched it and yanked wearily.

"Get the hell out of here, Espinoza…"

"Shut up you. I'm doing what I want, whether you like it or not."

"I don't! He's too strong for you!"

"Shut up, Hayato," she snorted and surprised him by referring to him by his first name, "I can play better then you can." The woman pressed her ring into box. The puzzle clicked and opened, and Gokudera watched for her second box animal, but it never came. Beside him, there was an unfamiliar growl that made him turn his head to see what it was.

The puppy was no longer pint sized anymore; it seemed to have easily quadrupled in size, if not more, and towered over the two foxes in front of it. It was still puffy, but its fur was now a black, and it's eyes, instead of a playful, innocent black, were narrowed slits of gold that gleamed in anger. Its head still had its wisp of sky flames, but there was a collar around its neck that held a small, golden bell that glimmered and moved as it swayed threateningly. Its tail was now fully visible, and it curled up around its rump like a squatty corkscrew.

In front of the woman, the man seemed to recognize who he was and chuckled a bit. "Oh, Espinoza. I know who you are," he said as he took out his own secondary box and opened it. The two foxes growled and became a black much like their larger canine opponent. "They didn't want the Millefiore dealing with you, but the chance to dispose of a potential future problem is just too enticing."

"Might I ask who they are?"

"They are the three families that killed your first guardians. You should know them well."

"Not really. They came and went, taking everything with them," she said lowly, then held her halberd out threateningly, a smirk spreading across her thin lips. "I wasn't joking when I said I knew how to play though. I've had years of practice even at my age." She clenched her hand around her golden halberd, her tan knuckles turning a ghostly white. "I don't like when people throw me off track though. I've got a tight schedule, so let's make this quick, mister…?"

"Gamma, little lady." She scowled and in a second, was in front of his face, her heels ignited with sky flames as she slammed her foot against his torso, sending him back a few feet with the force. He was lucky enough to have blocked it with his electricity covered pool stick, and after a moment, his pool balls were sent flying up at her. Her heels instantly stopped producing flames, and she plummeted towards the earth, twisting and turning her body to avoid the colorful spheres. She couldn't make it past one, and her green eyes widened as the electricity made a straight course for her chest.

It was snatched out of mid air by a skeletal creature, but as soon as its pearly fangs latched around the ball, it twitched violently and fell to the ground, its body jerking around. Gamma blinked his dark eyes, and she smirked in response as her body rotated in mid air and her shoes ignited and propelled her body to his. Her halberd's blade dragged across the ground, and tore up a few rocks from the ground. With a flick of her axe, she sent a large pebble towards the man, nailing him between the eyes and making him stumble back before she began to swing.

On the ground not too far away, Gokudera watched his eyes widened as he watched the woman that took on the enemy who singlehandedly took down both him and Yamamoto without as much as breaking a sweat. She seemed to be faring well against him though and was dealing out as much damage as she was giving. The one thing she had forgotten was the electric foxes that threatened the two Vongola kids on the ground. They looked over them, the electricity dancing as they darted closer, but just as they were to strike, another bony body intercepted the electricity and was sent to the side. It squirmed for a minute in agony, and then went limp. Its heart in its see through rib cage was no longer beating. The electric fox was thrown to the side, a scuff on its dark fur. Between the two boys was the fluffy black box weapon of the Espinoza boss. It seemed to smirk in victory at the foxes that had fallen for its trap.

"What…? How…?" he mumbled to himself, but the creature heard him and whuffed softly to catch his attention, as if he was saying 'watch'. The bomber did as he was 'instructed', however reluctantly, and kept its eyes on the dog by him. It closed its golden eyes, and the bell around its neck jingled once, twice, then a third time, and below its feet, tiny bones began to pop up from the ground and form into skeletal paws as they came together with the soft glow of the golden sun flame. Slowly, as the foxes were distracted with the already formed bony creatures, they became hollow skeletons that were similar to the lifeless human ones in biology class. After a moment of standing still, their bodies shuddered, and a tiny red dot formed in their chests, and expanded until the muscles of the heart were visible, and the beginning of veins became apparent. Gokudera blinked in surprise when they dashed forward into the battle, their only desire being to fight for the doggish god that gave them life. The whole process took about five minutes, but was enough to keep the foxes busy and away from the Espinoza tenth.

He glanced up at her, expecting to be doing just fine, but she was on the ground, a tall, dark haired man nearby, his foot on her chest and pinning her down. Her halberd had been discarded and thrown to the side, and her normally hard growls came out as pained squeals at the tip of his foot dug into her injured shoulder. His icy eyes bore into Gamma's darker ones, and with a smile, he chastised him like a father would do a child. "Now now," he cooed, his thick German accent leaking into his words," We told you not to deal with the Espinoza for a reason. We know how to deal with them properly, such as you know how to deal with the Vongola."

Gamma rolled his eyes and backed up a step and brushed the scuff marks off of his black coat. "I see…Thank you, Sabine…"

The dark haired man smiled and shallowly bowed, taking his top hat off of his head, rustling his long dark locks in the process. "It is my pleasure, Gamma. Please, continue with your activities while I deal with this one." Under the man, the fiery girl snarled and struggled, but screeched as his heel broke the delicate skin of her shoulder wounds, and her blood seeped out onto her orange sweater. He looked down at her, his gaze now cold as he looked at her. "You're such a troublesome creature. Too bad I can't kill you."

There was a growl, and Avrilina's faithful companion made a dash for the man, his minions accompanying him as he charged. Sabine narrowed his eyes and dug a box out of his pocket, the blue paint gleaming as he pressed his ignited ring into the port. Out came a fat creature that floated daintily towards the dog, its grin stretching like a crescent moon across its cattish face. It bypassed the skeleton dogs by seeming to poof away suddenly, only to reappear behind them alpha of the pack. Is hissed and drew its purplish paw up, then raked the blue flame covered weapons across its throat, making it squeal in pain, and fall down. Before it, its minions fell, and became nothing more than a pile of bones and a little bit of blood on the battle field. After a moment of soft, stressed panting, the black dog fell and has forced to retire back to its box.

Avrilina could feel the fear coursing through her veins as she glanced up at the all too familiar man and his wide, sadistic grin as he drew his box animal back to its rightful place. With a swift kick, the slender thirty year old sent the girl far across the battle field and away from the Vongola, and she crashed against the tree, breaking it in half with the force. A bit of blood flew from her lips, and she clenched her shoulder, but he was upon her, his foot upon her belly and forcing splinters into her back. "I'll make you a hedgehog before I drag you with me, little girl." True to her genetic nature, she hissed and spat on his shoe, her bloody saliva smearing over the clean, shiny leather. His blue eyes widened, and he picked her up off the ground, his teeth clenched and his vein bulging. "You're testing my patience, Espinoza!" He snarled, his grip tightening around her throat, making her squeal and struggle for breath as she thrashed in his grip.

Gokudera watched helplessly as the woman got beaten about like a rag doll, his eyes narrowed. His hand reached down into his belt to retrieve one of his explosives, but a foot slammed into his hand and made him wail in agony. He looked up at the blonde, who smirked softly at his pained expression. "I'm not done with you yet. I need to question you more."

There was a whizzing sound that passed by the two older men, and they were forced to release their victims to dodge the two red flame coated chopsticks went for them, one in each direction. Sabine jumped back, but the chopstick had gotten just in range of him and made a small slice on his crisp dark navy blue suit. His eyes widened, and he turned to see the two culprits, only to be surprised with a panda charging for him, his maw opened and a roar exploding from its throat. He jumped and bounced off of its back, his hands tingling from the momentary touch on the storm bear's fur. He hissed, and after a moment, his own rain flames from his ring soothed the wounds just in time for him to dodge another flurry of flaming attacks from a pair of chopsticks attached to a small Asian woman's softly tanned hands.

Avrilina panted on the ground, her hand placed delicately against her bruised neck as she tried to calm her uneven, labored breath. She felt a presence behind her, and instinctively, her fist flew and tried to shoo the person away, but the woman caught it and watched her with her one golden eye and a displeased expression on her soft face. Her hair was a bright red, much like a fresh apple, or a bleeding sunset, and reached her shoulders in length. An eye patch covered her left eye, along with a fringe of hair. "I'm still not sure why Mukuro was interested in you at the age you are now, or why I agreed to the terms you set to become your cloud guardian."

Avrilina panted and relaxed her grip, only to fall into the woman's black cloth covered chest. "…You reminded me of someone most likely…" he girl rolled her eyes, but picked up the smaller, younger girl gently. "You haven't eaten lately…You're too light. KIM!" The Vietnamese girl glanced up from her battle for a moment, her golden eyes landing upon the fifteen year old version of her boss in the red head's arms for a second before her quick paced battle continued. "Hurry the hell up!" The Vietnamese girl smirked in confidence.

"Don't worry, Rossi," she said, "I can do this. So just relax for a second, huh?" Rossi frowned and tightened her grip on her slightly to vent her annoyance. She turned her gaze down to the girl in her arms, and sighed, releasing her tightened grip on the small woman. She was much too small and much too fragile compared to her older self, but she didn't have the same aura, the same kindness and determination as her older self; she was much angrier, more guarded, and not like the older version of herself.

"Relax…You're safe now…We won't let anything happen to you…" she said gently, even for her normal, harsh exterior. Avrilina looked up, her bloody red lips parted slightly, and refused to fall asleep. Rossi frowned and looked over at the Vongola's problems, then back at her boss. "….Hibari Kyoya is taking care of them, so they are guaranteed to live…relax." In response, the Espinoza leader hissed indignantly, only to have her nose flicked and a pouting woman's stern glare lock onto her eyes. Instantly, she recoiled in fear and closed her eyes. "There. Much better…" she murmured as she pet the girl's ratty brown waves, trying to urge her to sleep despite having little experience in the field of comfort.

"Sleep…You'll have much harder trials from your cursed rings soon, so it's best you get your rest…" Rossi looked down at her puzzle ring and stared at the purple stone glaring at her mockingly, "You've done this before, but we were prepared much better then….and you do it with us just as children?"

* * *

This is a very short update from Crimson, but the next chapter is going to be such a big plot chapter, that there was no way I could fit it into here without a break in between. I've updated rather quickly over the past few days, and hopefully, if my time lets me, I should have the next chapter out by the weekend. I can promise that all of the Espinoza guardians will be in the next chapter since I seem to have forgotten them. Also, I'm going to try to add at least five pages to the next chapter to make up for this really short, but very needed chapter.

I've been having far too much fun shipping Gokudera and Avrilina ;3;

Question for you guys: I've announced that I'm going to make a group for roleplaying KHR and Rebuild, and I've gotten some feedback that a lot of you are interested in joining. So I've gotten my super special awesome friend (who also drew the cover of Rebuild) to start designing the bios and banners. I need you guys to suggest a few ideas to me since I'm trying to channel my better ideas into this story. Also, I need feedback on the generation you want in this group. Should we make it an earlier or later generation of the Mafia, or make it the tenth generation? And what do YOU want to see in this group, if you're interested? I'd really like some feedback on this one, since it's going to influence the building of the group! You need to have a say in this, or you cannot complain about how you wish it was different once it's made!

Here's a second question for you: When do you usually get on Fanfiction? I don't need the exact time, just "early morning, early afternoon, late afternoon, late at night…" and so on. I really want to have this story up when most of you guys get on and are in the mood to read (and review)!

Now, about reviews; I love them. I love them so very much. They make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, and remind me that there are people who love to read out there, my story specifically. So if you review more, I will update faster since the warm fuzzy feeling makes me feel very inspired and have a lot of muse~ Its such a great feeling when I update once or twice weekly, and people review!

Also, if you want to draw something from the story (say a scene, or that character you are totally crushing on. I've gotten some fan girls for Jean, so don't hide the love~), all you need to do is PM me the link, and include my name and a link to the story, and I think I might just explode out of happiness.

Anyway, enough here. So review, send me a PM, favorite, and refer me to those other people that you know love to read KHR OC stories :DD My readers are the very best, so invite more people to be awesome with us!

Ciao Ciao~


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Recovery**

Gabriel's amber eyes watched his boss from behind the metal frames of his glasses. They traveled her body that was tightly swaddled in the crisp white blankets of the cot she laid in. Her eyes, normally green and alert, were swollen and closed shut as she breathed gently from her slightly cracked and dry lips. The doctor ran a hand through his spiked brown hair and went to her side with a small water bottle in hand. His fingers slipped softly behind her head and he held it up at a slight angle to allow her easier access to the liquid within. The small movement made the woman stir and open a sliver of her green eyes. He gave a soft smile and held the bottle out to her lips, the plastic brushing the top one as he tried to get her to drink. She watched him for a minute, then her long fingers wrapped around his squeezed softly to urge him to assist her in the simple task that she was having trouble with.

The older boy smiled softly and tipped it up a bit so she could get a slight waterfall in her dry mouth without drowning in the process of drinking. Her chest heaved slightly at the new sensation, and she sputtered for a moment before regaining her composure. "You know, Jean has been in here for a while…" Gabriel said quietly as he tipped his head to the sleeping boy in the chair. His head was thrown back carelessly and he looked like he had passed out in the most awkward position possible in the small chair he was in. His mouth was open, but there was no loud snore from him. "He wanted to be the first to greet you when you woke up, but sleeping beauty was far too peaceful for me to disturb." She glanced at him with her confused, tired gaze before turning her attention back to her sun guardian in front of her. He seemed to understand her wordless question and answered it. "It seems that the future version of him is just as meddling as the past, but just as clever, as hard as it is to believe. He's sent all of the younger versions of us to this timeline, but for what reason, I'm not sure…"

She frowned at that, and tried to get herself to maneuver to a sitting position, only to hiss in pain at the sharp jabs all over her back and arms. She hissed in pain and leaned back, with some urging from Gabriel. "I…I know why…" she murmured and grabbed the little satchel from the side table. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist for a moment, before she placed the item in his awaiting palm. "…Give these to Jean, and tell him I want him to hand them to the new guardians…I believe he's probably gotten well acquainted with them, if I'm correct…"

"He's very talkative compared to them…" She nodded and closed her eyes once more before relaxing and releasing his wrist from her soft grip. He drew a deep breath, and tried to smooth her wild bangs before turning to the Lightning Guardian and shaking his arm. The smaller boy bolted up and looked around, his eyes wide in anticipation. "Relax, Jean. She's fine." He pouted and unraveled himself from the awkward curled position on the chair, his back and bones creaking as he did so.

"So she woke up without me? That's not nice…"

"She didn't forget about you; actually, she wanted you to do something before she fell back into sleep," he said and deposited the small sack of disassembled Espinoza rings in his hand. Jean blinked, and then looked up at him, not understanding the task on hand. "She wants you to find all of the rest of her guardians and give them the rings…You know them, right?"

Jean pouted in response. "As much of an idiot you seem to think I am, I'm very smart…Sakaki is rain, Sen is mist, the sneaky storm woman got hers already, and the last one is Rossi with the cloud ring. We already have ours. What happens after that?"

"She apparently believes that rounding them up will be enough to keep you busy until she feels better, so get them here." Jean flashed a grin that spread halfway across his face, and popped up from the chair, suddenly forgetting the creaking and soreness in his bones and joints from sleeping in such an awkward position.

"Alright! I'll do it!" he chirped as he bolted off, leaving only the imprint of his body in the chair behind. Gabriel smiled softly and sat back in his seat and closing his tired eyes. Over the past few days, he had been trying to figure out how to open the boxes he had in his possession, but he couldn't. They had a small hole on the top that acted like a keyhole that could only be opened with the ovular stone attached to the ring he couldn't assemble. He snorted and examined the golden boxes in annoyance and interest.

"This whole family is one giant puzzle…I don't like all of these secrets and cryptic thoughts. It might drive someone insane one day just trying to figure out this family…"

* * *

It had taken three days for Avrilina to recover enough to move from her bed and get back onto her feet. It also took Jean those three days to wrangle up the reluctant and confused guardians to the room where his boss was. He had to pick one of the women up, the red headed cloud named Rossi, and carry her back over his shoulder with her trying to rip his hair out of his skull. He didn't hold it against her though, and figured if some unfamiliar man tried to carry her off, he'd be fighting too.

"Hush youuu!" he whined as he felt her try to wriggle her wrists out of his wide grip. "I wouldn't have to pick you up if you didn't try to run away when I was trying to bring you back to boss!" Rossi snarled and thrashed in his grip, nearly tripping him as her foot collided with his knee.

"I wouldn't have to thrash if you would put me down and let me do what I wanted!"

"I can't do that though. You have to come with me and see the boss!"

"That woman in the bed? Bah, I doubt she's anything special."

"She is!" Jean yapped at her, his hazel eyes wide at her scandalous opinion," She's my boss, and she's going to tell us how to assemble the Espinoza rings I gave everyone!" Rossi stopped flailing for a minute and glanced at the golden bands that hung loosely off of her neck from a thin chain.

"…Mukuro was interested in that name…"

"Well then! You better listen up to her so you can tell your boyfriend all about your fun adventures!" Rossi's cheeks flared up at his unreasonable accusation, and began to struggle once more.

"He's not that!"

"How nice of you to join us…" said a voice from nearby. Jean perked up slightly at the sound he missed, and nearly dropped Rossi to go for Avrilina, but he stopped himself just short and placed her on the ground before going up to her, a goofy grin on his lips.

"You're awake! And with such a sour look! I missed that scowl!" He chirped and held out his arms for her. She blinked, not sure what to do, but realized what he wanted and shoved him away from her.

"Don't touch me."

"And your cold shoulder. It's endearing."

Avrilina ran her fingers through her now slightly tamed locks and closed her eyes momentarily to chase away the headache that she could feel crawling its way inside her head. "I believe we're here for more than just to chit-chat…" Gabriel said lowly as he leaned against the wall, his long white coat disguising him against the pastel paint. "…And now that we're all here, we can discuss our circumstances that we've been putting off…"

"What is going on here anyway? All I got out of the baby earlier is that we were sent about ten years into the future by some little cow and his bazooka," Kim said as she inspected the ring the palm of her hand. The four gold rings were attached just like the others, but her stone was red, signifying her flame color. "So who sent us here in the first place? And for what reason?"

Avrilina dragged her hand down her face, remembering the boy and the cow's oversized weapon that started these shenanigans in the first place. Her skin stretched a bit, revealing her green eyes under her mass of brown hair and bruised skin. "…Jean from this time period screwed things up and sent all of you here so you can figure out your rings faster…"

"I knew I was smart," He said happily as he twirled the ring about on his pinkie finger," And how do we figure these things our anyway? I've solved it a hundred times over, and all I get is a little zap, and it falls apart again."

"Lucky," the Vietnamese girl muttered as she prodded at her disassembled bands," I've been trying to get this thing together since I got it and haven't been able to get it together."

"If anyone could put it together, then anyone could be in your position right now," said the second, red haired female of the group. "The stupid mafia has to make things difficult so they can pick out the best and brightest, though it looks as if their system is failing." Avrilina gave a soft growl and got up from the bed, her eyes narrowed. Her tan fingers flashed by the smaller girl's face for a moment, but there was no impact, only the soft clinking of metal as she snatched the ring away from its perch on her neck. The ball and chain popped and hung limply in her tight grip.

"If you don't like what's going to happen to all of you here, then I'm giving the change for you to leave right now. If you stay, then I'm taking your response to me as you taking full responsibility for whatever duties come your way." The two women locked eyes, the invisible sparks almost flying. "I don't welcome weak people into my family, so can you do it?" Avrilina asked as she held the ring out to the girl again. Rossi wrinkled her nose and took it back, her loyalty to another being the only thing keeping her there.

"I can do anything."

A small smirk crossed the Spaniard's face and she seemed pleased with her spirited answer. "Alright…" she said softly as she turned on her heel and headed back to her bed. Her legs weren't ready for the sudden turn, and gave out under her, nearly sending her plummeting to the floor again. She was lucky enough to have her Rain guardian right by her, and with a quick, smooth movement, he caught her and saved her from another broken nose.

"Y-You should be a little more careful with getting up quickly…" he stammered softly as he pulled her up to her feet. She frowned and watched him for a moment, still not comprehending why he was so nervous around her, then threw a rough punch that hit his lower bicep.

"…Stop being so nervous about whatever."

"I'm not nervous!" he said quickly, then covered his mouth and cheeks with his hands. "Nevermind…How do we figure out the rings?"

Avrilina took a deep breath and slipped her ring of her thumb. Once it left the warmth of her skin, the once well formed band seemed to sizzle with energy, then promptly break apart into the simple rings that the others were in. "…The Espinoza rings can't be worn by anyone other than someone worthy of them. The Sky Ring can only be worn with someone that has Espinoza blood, such as me, my mother, and any descendents I may or may not have. In the current condition now, they are nothing more than gold and jewels; they have no power in them." She said as she waved the bands around idly to show how useless they were. "The only way to get them to accept you is to show them that you can handle what comes along with the burden of having them."

"These rings are more than just a symbol; they're a brand. If you put them on, they cannot permanently come off until you're dead, or I take it off of you," she said as she placed the ring back on her finger, and then quickly assembled it with practiced ease. "So I'll offer again; run if you're too scared. These things are very picky about who inherits their power."

"Stop trying to warn us and get on with it."

Avrilina hissed lowly in the direction the snarky comment came from, but decided against wasting any more time and continued. "…There's only one place that you can assemble these rings, and that's in Spain where the bodies are hopefully buried…"

"They're there, Avrilina." The Spanish woman looked to the side, where a small, dark haired Arcobaleno was perched nearby on a chair. "Your future self had eventually gotten the bodies properly buried, so they're in the Family graveyard." She let out a sigh and leaned her head body back against her Sun guardian behind her.

"I need to leave today then…How will we get there with minimal interruptions?"

"We'll supply a few Vongola forces to help you out on the way, but we cannot send more then we can afford to lose."

"I understand...Gracias, Reborn."

The baby nodded and jumped down from the chair. On his way out, he looked back over his shoulder and at her. "Your cooperation with the Millefiore would be much appreciated." She stared back, her green eyes uncaring.

"I'll be sure to do what I can after the rings are assembled." The answer pleased him, and Reborn was gone. The girl flicked her wavy hair about and out of her face, her lips pursed slightly as her logic and her pride battled inside her. "…It may not be much though…" A hand clapped down on her shoulder and rubbed it slightly, making her jump in surprise and rip Jean's fingers off of her. "Don't touch me."

The boy pouted and tried to seize her in a hug once more, a soft whine bubbling in his throat. "But you're letting Gabriel touch you!" She growled and shoved him off of her when he nearly got a firm grip around her fragile body.

"I'm touching him! That's different!"

"No its not! I just want a damn hug woman!"

"You two…"

"I said stop! I'll kill you!"

"No you won't!"

"Jean, stop being such a child and let her be…"

Jean looked up from the task he had on hand and frowned, not liking that he was being called childish. "Don't be mean me, Kim. We're family now…" The Asian woman rolled her eyes and got up.

"We're not really family."

"Enough of this crap!" Avrilina barked, her short fuse already blown. "I need you all to pack whatever it is you happen to have here that you want to bring along to Spain. We have to leave by tomorrow in case there are any delays, since we're racing against time now." Around her, the guardians seemed to get the underlying message that she wanted them to shut up and get out of her face, and got up. Before they left the room, she spoke once more. "…Tomorrow at six, we're going to be out of here, so get to bed early…"

Just outside the door, Gabriel waited for his boss to follow them out, and when he did, he gently took her arm, making her flinch and glare at him angrily. "Relax…I want to ask you something."

"What might that be?"

"I've been taking care of you for the past few months now, since I helped you from drowning, so I've seen your body-"

"Your point?"

"Let me finish," he said as he took the edge of her shirt and lifted it up slightly. The pale scars stuck out against her tan skin like paint, and she frowned, smacking his hand away as he reached to touch the indents. "These weren't here when I helped you when you were little…"

"So you remember that?"

"Yeah, you got burned pretty badly, and I expect some of the scarring to be from that, but not this much. Now stop getting off topic and tell me what happened to you…Secrets are bad to keep from those you call your family…"

She looked away from him, her arms crossed, as she contemplated her answer. "…When you're born into a mafia family, you learn of sin rather quickly." He frowned and pushed up his glasses gently. "That's all I want to tell you right now. Are you satisfied?"

"Not entirely, but I understand…"

"Good…Now, go say goodbye to your friends here…We won't be back for a while…I'm sure Haru will be angry if you don't go talk to her…" Gabriel blinked and a light pink dusted his pale cheeks, then he smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You're probably right…I'm sure that your Vongola friend will be annoyed if you don't say goodbye to him too," He said with a soft smile. She didn't react to his bait and turned to walk off. "You should try to make friends with them…This whole experience will be immensely more enjoyable if you learn to have fun." She paused for a moment, then glanced at him from over her shoulder, her green eyes tinged with annoyance, and her lips drawn into a soft frown.

"I'm not here to have fun…I want to get back to the correct time period as soon as I can…"

* * *

Gokudera had been released from his bed and allowed to move after he had healed enough to be deemed healthy. His first destination was his room so he could get a change of clothing, and head to the showers so he could clean the mess that was his body. The bad tempered boy sulked down the hall, his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth. He let his adventurous mind roam around inside of his memories, and after passing over the immediate thoughts of his boss and his 'family', he arrived to the sudden thought of the annoying Espinoza woman that had entered his life with such a strong presence.

His lips turned down in displeasure at the thought of her sour face, and he rolled his eyes at her snarky, quick words that he could only partially understand half of the time as he opened the door to his shared room with Tsuna. It had been a few days since he last went in, and he never paid much mind to the contents of the room outside of the bed and the desk nearby, but he could see a bright colored piece of fabric peeking out from the corner of the bed. He eyed it for a moment before crouching down and tugging it out to examine it.

There was no way in hell that it was his; it was tailored for a woman. The plaid design and burnt orange color reminded him of one person right off the bat: Avrilina. He scowled and tightened his grip on the loosely knit sweater and he looked around to see if anything of hers was around the room, but he found nothing. After a moment, the boy brushed the hair out of his face in annoyance and set out to find the owner of the sweater, or at least one of her stupid guardians. He just wanted her crap out of his way.

She seemed to have just disappeared from the base though, and while he wouldn't say he was worried, he felt uneasiness bubbling in his belly. Had they just left like a bunch of traitors? After all the help they've gotten from his boss? _Probably. _He snorted and turned down a hall where he remembered the woman had been staying, and figured that it would be a good place to put the wretched article of clothing so he wasn't stuck with it all day. He arrived at her door, which looked just like all the others, and opened it up to see that it was positively spotless, unlike the first time he had caught a glimpse inside.

The first time, he had nearly blown a fuse at the fact that it was so messy with all of the clothing and various other objects strew about, and claimed that it was disrespectful, but she had blown him off and slammed the door in his face and locked it before he could do anything other than gape at her rudeness. He had expected her to be a little lazy, but nothing like the degree of mess that her living quarters were. Having it spotless just unnerved him though, so when he caught a glimpse of paper on the desk, he jumped to see what it was. It wasn't anything he expected though.

There was a picture of two people, a man and a woman. She was squished into his side, her head snuggled into his shoulder and her long chestnut locks freed from their bindings and flowing freely down her back. His hand was wrapped gently around her side and his fingers wrapped slightly around her curved waist. Both of them were dressed nicely, and seemed too familiar to the bomber. Upon closer inspection of the boy, whose face was slightly turned to the camera, he could see soft brown eyes and a familiar scar on his tanned, smiling face, and he blinked, unsure what to think of the photo. It was the Vongola rain guardian, and the Espinoza Boss in the picture, and she was letting him touch her; not only that, she seemed as ease next to him by the way she was leaning into his side.

His lip twitched, and he placed the picture in the back of one of the drawers, hoping that no one would ever find the appalling image. As much as he didn't care about the woman, the fact that she was so relaxed around that fool irked him to no end. Yamamoto wasn't supposed to be the one that had good relationships with all of the Tenth's allies and subordinates; Gokudera was. He couldn't even get her to look at him for more than ten seconds though, so how was he supposed to create a positive relationship with her? She had been such a prickly person that he had no desire to get closer to her, and that every nasty comment he had thrown at her was well deserved on her behalf.

But, there was something inside of him that didn't like the fact that they were that close, and he wasn't.

He knitted his eyebrows together in annoyance, then threw the sweater onto her neat bed, then departed from the room, his mind heavy with new thoughts. "Women are too much work," he muttered lowly as he stalked off.

* * *

\I made the transition between the chapters much too long, and to keep the chapter a decent size and not twenty or so pages, I was forced to cut it off here and produce yet another short chapter. Fear not! Next chapter is the chapter you're looking forward to!

H(ttp) : / / xskyestarlx . deviantart.c(o)m /

Here is some super awesome fan art from xSkyestarlx. I love it! Thank you :DD I hope to see a lot more of this from everyone!

Alright! Question time! What do you guys want to see in the next few chapters? I'm going to be loosely sticking to storyline, but it'll be there, and I just can't resist introducing some new relationships and other fun stuff. Do you want some interaction with any specific character (say Xanxus or Byakuran) and Avrilina (or any other character)? Or any view from any specific character you love, whether it is a cannon or OC? I love requests and guidance because I have no idea what I'm doing ;u;

I want to take a moment to recognize that I think I have the best readers in the world ;u; Thank you for all the support. Without you guys and your feedback, I wouldn't have gotten this far!

Again, I apologize for the super short update, but I thought it was necessary to introduce some Espinoza fluff into it.

So thank you for reading! Favorite, review, and keep an eye out for updates!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Becoming One with Your Mistakes**

Spain hadn't changed in the years that Avrilina had been away; the buildings were still there, not that she cared much about them in the first place, and the same waterways and other small stands were still there, even if they were run by older people, or new owners. She remembered all of the small red flowers that dotted the streets happily, and she remembered the chirping of the birds from the small, tattered roofs. It was a nice, quaint place, and should she have been born into a different family with fewer worries about a life with the mafia, she would have liked to have lived in one of the small apartments with just herself, and maybe a cat that would laze around with her.

Avrilina didn't have that luxury though; she had a mafia family to succeed, and revenge to act upon. She had to reassemble all of the Espinoza rings and reunite her guardians. They were the key to ending all of the long, hard times that were in store for them.

_But then what?_

The girl hadn't planned that far ahead. She didn't have a clue in her mind what her next move would be once she achieved her goal. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to reassemble the rings and curse another generation with the job of an Espinoza guardian. She had never even wanted the position of the leader herself, but she wasn't given a choice like the teens around her had been offered. They seemed to be positively content with being dragged to a new life of unknown threats and threats that endangered their life along with the life of the ones they loved.

The girl threw a glance over her shoulder and at the rest of the people in the car with her. _How did she end up with such a collection of characters?_

First to join was Jean, who, aside from being a complete moron in her eyes, was someone she was glad that came into her life. He was stupidly loyal and friendly to her, for what reason, she had yet to comprehend. He had taken a part in her life that she couldn't get back from him; he had stuck by her long enough for her to let his cheery personality make her feel safe when he was around. She didn't want him to end up with a horrible fate that was promised for him. As she watched him, all she could see was the blood running down his face and neck and seeping into his clothing as his dead eyes rolled back into his head.

Then there was Gabriel, who she had met before. He was a warm boy, perhaps not as friendly and outgoing as Jean, but he too provided her with much needed comfort, and some helpful advice that had probably saved her a few scars already. She too saw him with his glasses shattered and his long white coat covered in blood.

The rest of her guardians came in quick succession. Kim was eternally blunt, but her honest opinions and words had already steered her out of the way of a few mishaps. As much as she didn't like having a female company nearby, Avrilina had appreciated the Vietnamese woman's intimidating presence by her side. Sakaki had provided her with some relaxation that she wouldn't have expected from his flustered, almost blunt self. It was almost refreshing that just looking at him would send him into a stuttering, blushing mess for some unknown reason. Sen, while he rarely talked, was pleasant company. She didn't mind the fact that he seemed very tired all of the time, and that she didn't know much about him; he didn't know her either, so she considered it fair. Then there was Rossi and her blood colored hair. She didn't seem too friendly, but again, as long as she did what she needed to do, Avrilina didn't care much about her personal life or what she thought of her. She was the cloud of the group, so she didn't expect her to be too attached to anyone of the group straight off. She barely expected her to get into the limo with them to get to the Espinoza mansion.

She saw them all the same despite their vastly different personalities: covered with scarlet, their bodies twisted and torn apart, and their eyes lifeless as they stared at her with disappointment in their dead depths.

She scowled and turned her head to stare out the window. The path they followed was familiar to her, and not in a way she liked. The hedges were neatly cut, and the trees drooped mournfully over the already shady, green path. Her eyes darted about in the darkness that lurked just beyond the dark tree line, narrowed and on the lookout for any hidden enemies that she missed the last time she had been there. Her home wasn't her home anymore; all she saw was a mass grave since she entered the gate at the front.

The car jerked to a halt and threw her forcefully from her thoughts as her body pressed roughly against the seatbelt. She hissed as the pressure stung her newly healed wounds, but was lucky enough to not have broken any of the skin. The woman wrinkled her nose and unbuckled the belt as the car door opened into the damp, gray morning.

"…This is kind of cool…" muttered Kim as her golden eyes darted around the area, trying to take in the massive Espinoza estate. The edge of the repaired mansion loomed just over the distance, but Avrilina didn't spare a glance for it.

"I'm not interested in that crap. Let's get what we need and get out…I've spent too much time here already."

"Avrilina, sometimes it's good to look back-"

"Shut up."

Sakaki sighed and ran a hand through his bed head, but shook off her rudeness and followed her as she stalked around the court yard, her eyes narrowed in concentration. She did have a point that they needed to be quick about everything they did, and they had to be careful, but she seemed much more aggressive then she had been only a few days before. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened to the woman to cause her to not want to visit her own home, but it must have been bad if her temper had been triggered by merely entering the grounds.

"It should only take us a few minutes if I remember correctly…"

"And if you don't remember it correctly?" shot Rossi from the side as she cuddled into her shawl. Ximena frowned at her, but turned her attention forward once more to see seven graves ahead.

"Then that will be inconvenient."

They arrived at the tomb stones quickly, and her eyes fell upon their artistically rustic features. Her family was never a traditional family in life, so they were certainly not a traditional family in death. Six of the graves only rose a little bit above the ground circled around the largest center grave that looked like a small home. Avrilian's eyes didn't stray from the house like structure and she strolled up to it, her ring already flaming with her wild orange flames. With the flick of her hand, she sent a small wave of flames over it, and there was a small crack as a lock was revealed under the palm sized dome that sat straight in the middle of the door. She eyed it for a moment, and then glanced over her shoulder at the others.

"…The graves are marked with the symbol of your flame…Stand in front of it, and when I open it, you must go in." The others nodded and made their way over to the graves. Aside from the markings on the stone plates, there were also colorful flowers of each color to represent the flames, even green and blue.

Avrilina watched them for a moment, and then turned her attention back to the lock. It had the Espinoza crest engraved into it with a small port for her ring. The mamba that represented her family glared at her mockingly and with a snarl, she smashed her fist into its face, the flames entering the locking mechanism with much force. There was a soft clicking, and the intricate doorway shuddered as the locks behind it moved from being still for so long. After a tentative moment, it creaked open and Avrilina shoved her way into its depths.

Immediately, she went to the small pedestal that stood near the entrance of the catacombs. On it was a similar lock to the one on the outside, and she pressed her flaming ring it quickly enough. Below here, there was soft creak in reaction to the power, but the familiar crashing and rumbling that should have been heard wasn't. She blinked and looked down at the pedestal, then back outside to see that nothing had changed. Her guardians were looking around and waiting for the event that should have happened. She repeated the action, thinking that maybe the gears were just a little old, but nothing happened

She panicked.

With a screech, she threw her fist into the pedestal, only to have pain shoot from her knuckles to her elbow and draw another agitated shriek from her. Her hands clutched the side of her head and she pulled on her short locks, yanking out a few strands. "POR QUE?! POR QUE?!" She screeched in her native tongue as she lost her already short temper. "THIS IS TOO FUCKING DIFFICULT!" After a moment, she brought her green gaze to the graves of her ancestors that were embedded into the wall, and she lost it. With a snarl, she threw her flaming fist into the one closest to her and smashed the fragile coffin like glass. The skull stared out at her with its wicked grin mocking her with cobwebs dusting its features. Avrilina recognized the placement of the coffin in relation to the others, and her pupils contracted in anger as her emotions began to grip her in their long fingers.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT, YOU BITCH! I WOULDN'T BE GOING THROUGH THIS IF YOU WEREN'T SO STUPID!" She turned her gaze to the next coffin over, and slammed her fist into that one as well. "ALL OF YOU! THIS ISN'T WHAT I WANTED!" Her words became a mangled stampede of Spanish as she struggled to get control of herself. After a few moments of screaming and wailing like a dying animal, she was seized from behind, her arms yanked up and her body held by someone's hands.

"Stop!" Jean yelled at her as he struggled to restrain her without hurting her in her fragile state. "You're going to hurt yourself if you don't stop!" Avrilina looked up at him, her eyes wild and her expression drawn into a snarl, but after a tentative moment of struggling and growling, she seemed to calm down a bit and regain control of her mind. She glanced down at her bloody fists, and snorted as pulled herself roughly out of his grip.

"…This is going to have to wait…" she growled to herself as she tried to make a fist with her hands. They screamed in protest, and after a second of hissing and glaring, she stopped trying and let them fall limply to her sides. Gabriel went to her side to inspect them, but as he tried to take a closer look, she pulled herself away from him.

"Please…I won't hurt you."

"All I need is a band-aid," she snorted and turned to leave the burial grounds. Gabriel wouldn't stand for that though, and his eyes narrowed behind his silver frames. His hand shot out and snatched her by her elbow and yanked her back to him.

"No, you probably need stitches, or at least something more sophisticated then a band-aid. If you don't get everything fixed correctly, you won't be able to move your hands properly again. Now I'm going to take you back to your home, assuming that you have medical supplies there, and fix you even if I need to carry you back. Then you'll tell us what happened." Avrilina glared back up at him angrily, but after considering his words, she looked away stubbornly and pulled her arm out of his grip.

"Fine," she said lowly,"I'm going to walk though…" After a second of watching her, the doctor nodded and gestured the other guardians to follow them out. "…We'll spend the night here…You can just my previous guardian's rooms while we stay…They're marked with the symbols like the graves." She walked out of the grave, her hands limp at her side with blood flowing down from them and dripping on the stone in a dark, ominous trail.

Kim couldn't help but comment on the bodies she trashed; she had high respect for the dead and her ancestors. She called after her boss, her hands on her hips and her lips set into a frown. "Is this how you show respect for the dead? By destroying their bodies?" Avrilina threw a glare at her and her lip twitched in annoyance, but Kim didn't stop. "You should clean up your mess."

"And you should shut your mouth before I sew it shut." She snarled and continued on her way like the Asian's scolding was nothing. Kim's golden eyes widened in surprise at the nasty comment, then narrowed in anger as she clenched her tiny fists. After a second of contemplation, she pulled out one of her chopsticks and with a flick of her wrist and deadly accuracy, she tossed the silver stick at Avrilina's face. The woman didn't seem to notice it, but a second later, with a flash of orange, the stick was broken in half and clenched in the jaws the small white puppy that was perched on her shoulder. Its black eyes were slits and its body was engulfed in the orange flames of the sky. Slowly, the Spanish woman turned her gaze over her shoulder, her eyes in slitted like those of her box animal's, and watched her for a second.

"I'm being far too patient with you. Do it again, and I'll be hanging your head on my wall." Her box animal returned to its box as she rounded the corner and disappeared past the walls of depressed flowers. Kim watched after her with disbelief, her eyes burning with fury as she clenched her teeth together, and with a low growl, she stalked out of the grave with anger in her stride. She turned and went the other way and disappeared into the courtyard.

The remaining guardians eyed each other, and after a moment of silence, Sen was surprisingly the first to speak. "…We should go our own ways for now…Maybe there's something we're missing…" He murmured softly as he turned on his black and white checkered vans and walked out. The other three agreed, and soon, the gravesite was abandoned and silent as if nothing had happened.

* * *

The family sat alone for a few hours, each left to their own thoughts until the darkness crept in. Outside, Kim sat near a pond she found after storming off. She had been there for the entire time after her scuffle, and had taken her anger out on the ground right by her; it was impaled with dozens of chopsticks, and was nothing more than a sloppy mixture of mud and grass. Her fingers clenched her basketball shorts in agitation, and she flopped back on the ground with a groan. "I hate this. I'm going to find something better to do with my life then deal with this…" she muttered aloud.

"So whatcha got in mind, shorty?"

Kim flinched and jumped to her feet, her chopsticks at the ready. Her eyes were locked onto person next to her, but his violet eyes were gazing out across the water. He seemed very relaxed as he lay out on the ground, his arms thrown lazily behind his head as he whistled, waiting for her answer. He was easily a foot taller than her and his T-shirt and jeans were messy and tussled as if he really didn't care about his appearance. After a second, he turned his head to her, rustling his choppy blonde locks. "Nothing much come to mind? I didn't really think so. Life is pretty boring outside of the Espinoza lifestyle."

Kim's eyes narrowed slightly, but she kept her poker face as she stared down the boy. "What do you know about them?"

He chuckled and with a quick movement, flipped up on his feet and walked in front of her. "A lot actually. I was in your position a while back, kiddo." Kim watched him, her mind not pulling the answer, and the boy pressed his hand against his face. "You're not the brightest crayon in the box, huh?" He held up his hand, and the ring on his long fingers ignited with a red flame, making the girl's eyes widen. "There goes the light bulb," he chirped and tapped her fore head. "Ding~"

"Why didn't you come earlier?"

"I dunno," he said simply. She looked at him incredulously and he grinned, his lips parting and showing his white teeth. "I guess I wasn't sure you were ready, and I'm still not sure."

"So why now?"

"Shit woman, I don't know why I do things half the time, but I still do it," he snapped, but after a second, regained his temper. "All that matters is that I'm here now. So tell me…What else do you plan on doing with your life after this?" Kim looked down, her lips pursed, and after a moment of silence, he shook his head. "You don't know, right?" He glanced to the side and looked at the lake, his eyes softening a bit as he did. "You know…This was my special place…"

"Was?"

The boy chuckled and looked down at her. "Think about it, babe…Yeah…was…I kinda with it still was, but it's not the same without your real body…" He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, then glanced down at her again. "I always came here to think after I got into an argument with Tadeo…And I was able to think a bit more clearly. I hope you can use it to your advantage as well…"

"So you're-"

"Yeah, I'm dead."

Kim watched him warily for a minute, as if she almost didn't believe he was who he said he was, but upon closer inspection, she found that his fingertips were and the grass waved through his feet as if nothing was there. She glanced up at him, her gold eyes now a little calmer that she was conversing with a spirit.

"You know," he started as he looked down at the ground that she had impaled with chopsticks, "I planted a tree here a long long time ago…It never grew…"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, the fact that you probably stabbed the poor thing to death if it wasn't dead already doesn't get you brownie points from me."

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled as she looked down. Her karma would be bad because of her temper, and she worried for what was to come to her.

"Really, it's not a big deal. If you get a nice seed, come plant it and hopefully it'll do a little better now that someone will take care of it…" He shook his head and looked down at her. "Now…Avrilina is a complicated, and very confusing creature, and when I was first in your position a while back, I tried to kill her more then once…Needless to say that even when we were five, I still got my ass handed to me…" Kim raised a brow in interest, but said nothing. "But, she's got a lot of aggression…You need to understand the Espinoza family way of life to understand her."

"And what's that?"

"Well, down here in Espinozaland, the entire family is a dictatorship of women, so things are already a little strained with all the estrogen. So, in order to keep things going smoothly, the girls here have to be a rough bunch of women from day one until they draw their last breath."

"I don't find that uncommon…" Kim said as she tapped her fingers on the ground.

"She didn't have much of a childhood…Her mother was dead, her father unable to be in her life even if he knew of her…Her grandmother was her caretaker, and had the same attitude towards her that she has towards you."

"I'm still not getting why she's so filled with hate."

"…It's not as easy to explain as I would like it to be…This information is something you need to learn on your own…You just need to understand the people deal with grief in different ways; I'm sure that you can understand that." Kim looked down and swallowed the saliva that had accumulated, and with a soft smile, the boy took off the ring from his finger and it dispersed into the form that Kim had. "Get your ring…I think you can handle it…"

* * *

Avrilina's eyes were shut as she lounged on her bed with her arms acting as support along with the crimson pillows. Her brows were knitted together in annoyance and her lips were drawn into a deep set frown as she let her thoughts wander around unrestrained. She had done as she was taught when she was younger, and things had gone flawlessly then. The graves had opened up, and the guardians were allowed to go and visit their predecessors and receive their blessings. It didn't work this time though; the graves hadn't even budged. Was her flame tainted in some way that caused the rejection? Or were the ones she chose that unfit to receive their gifts? Neither was plausible; her flame was much more pure then before, and her guardians had already been accepted in the future. She wrinkled her nose and clenched her bandaged fists angrily, but quickly released the pressure so that she wasn't injured in the process.

There was a soft creak as the door opened and her she turned her gaze to it to see someone in the door way. She snorted softly and closed her eyes, not wanting to deal with questioning from yet another person after being lovingly drilled earlier by her lightning guardian. "I don't want to talk…" she mumbled and turned on her side away from the door. The person drifted forward almost soundlessly, and sat on the edge of the bed, making her hiss in annoyance. "I want to be alone…" she said a little louder as she struggled to put distance between her and the person. The person didn't listen though, and after a moment, their long pale fingers wrapped around her bicep and eased her gently to their side once more. With a snarl, she sat up and her fist flew for their face, her temper once again out of hand. "I said go away!"

A firm, but gentle grip caught her hand and pulled her fist away from his face. Blinded with rage, she swung again, only to have her fist caught once more and tenderly pulled it down out of the way. The woman wailed in rage and slammed her forehead into the man's and finally made contact and knocked the person back. "Now don't bother me!" she barked as she turned away from the person

After a silent second, there was a gentle, chilly touch on her waist and a puff of breath in her ear, and she inhaled sharply in surprise. Another hand gently wrapped around hers, and there was pressure against her back as the person pressed against it. She opened her mouth to protest against the intimate touch, but she glanced at the hand and spied a familiar blue stoned ring, and her words didn't come. Her pupils contracted in shock, and she turned her face slightly to the side, her green eyes wide.

A pair of soft red eyes stares back at her, their dark depths reminders of what she had lost. Her breath caught in her throat as she glanced at his long, thin face that was framed with dark burgundy locks that fell just past his chin. Against her fingers, he tightened his grip around her fingers and his long arms wrapped around her mid section and pulled her tighter against his chilly body. Awestruck with him, she allowed him to maneuver her body how he pleased until she was facing him, their breath brushing gently against his face. After a moment, he leaned in just a bit and closed the distance between their lips.

Avrilina tensed up momentarily, not used to his chilly touch anymore, but after registering the event, her green orbs fluttered closed and she relaxed in his gentle grip and slid a hand up to his shoulder and gently gripped it. Her heart fluttered in her chest, glad to have such a familiar sensation encompassing her, and for the first time in a while, was at ease with someone else.

The welcomed cold was gone far too quickly for her, and was replaced with the sensation of loss. She whimpered softly, but a gentle finger stroked her jaw line with a ghostly touch and silenced her protests. Her lips fell open slightly and she tried to form words, but nothing came out from them. His hand made its way slowly to the back of her head, and with a tender push, he nudged her head into his chest so he could cradle her against his body. She complied, and after a moment of adjusting, she relaxed into him chest, her eyes half lidded. The boy leaned over and gently pressed his lips against her smooth forehead and moved his lips to form words against the skin.

'_Siempre estaré en tu corazón, para que la mía__.__'_

"Emil…" she murmured softly as she clutched his crisp white sleeve and pressed her face into his, the tears leaking from her eyes and onto her jeans. His hand squeezed hers once more, and he leaned in and stole another kiss before squeezing her tightly to his chest, his long arms wrapping around her significantly smaller form. A soft whimper escaped from her chest, and after a moment of wavering silence, her feelings exploded from her in a heart wrenching wail. He shut his eyes tightly and tightened his grip around her to comfort her and his lips moved gently against her skin in silent apologies. She wailed into his shirt, her body shaking shuddering with the effort of her trying to control her emotions, but she was only able to rein them in as her consciousness slipped from her and her sobs turned to soft hiccups. Her vision darkened and after a moment, her swollen lids closed over her reddened eyes, and she had fallen into her land of dreams. Gently, the boy eased her into a comfortable position with his body curled around her protectively. Out of concern for her, he pulled the comforter around her and tucked her in lovingly as he caressed her tear stained face.

In his grip, she was still and comfortable, and her reflex to push him away was nonexistent; she even cuddled into his comfortable body as she slept. His crimson eyes were locked onto her as his lips pulled up into a gentle smile and he pressed them to her forehead, then both of her cheeks. He would never be in her life the way she wanted him to be, and while he yearned to be with her in physical form, he would have to do with only being there in spirit. His lips formed silent words, his voice box useless even after death.

'_Te amo siempre…"_

* * *

Hey guys. Ever wonder where I got Avrilina's name from? Well, I was listening to a song and I heard a word wrong, and it found its way into the story. What song, you ask? Well, it's titled "The Point of Extinction" by Motion City Soundtrack, and it's a pretty good song. Since we're on the topic of music, I listened to "Decembers" by Hawthorne Heights for the last scene of this chapter. You should reread it with that in the background because it makes it worse ;n;

So, tell me this. Do you have any songs that you think fits this story or any certain relationships in the story? Or any song that you've just fallen in love with? I'd love to hear them so I can have more to listen to.

Also, the artist I linked to you last chapter has been busy drawing more and more fan art, and has drawn Jean, Rossi, Kim, and more Avrilina. So get the link from the previous chapter's A/N and go comment on and favorite her work!

Alright! I haven't gotten to too many other OCs lately, but they'll start coming in soon! I promise!

So thank you for reading! Review, favorite, draw, and send me a PM! I really do love talking to you guys and hearing your wonderful opinions and tips!

_Siempre estaré en tu corazón, para que la mía_: I'll always be in your heart, for you have mine.

_Te amo siempre_: I love you always


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: The Return**

_Jean was sprawled out on the light green comforter of his temporary bed with his gray jacket unzipped and his black wife beater underneath riding up a bit to expose a bit of his scarred belly. His eyes were closed and his lips were parted slightly as his even, deep breaths passed through them. He was asleep, and a pair of blue eyes watched him in boredom as the owner waited for him to wake up. He was clad in a green and black letterman jacket that hung loosely over his muscular frame. Under it was a simple white button up shirt, and on his legs was a pair of loose jeans that were too loose and showed off his red boxers. He was relaxed on one of the chairs, his head hanging off the side and his green converse covered feet pressed against the dark wall lazily. "Wake uuuup…." He groaned as he tapped the bed lightly with his pale fingers. When Jean didn't stir, the white haired boy frowned and flicked his parted black bangs out of his face, then reached up and held up his hand and gazed at the green puzzle ring on his middle finger for a moment. "Man, I didn't want to have to freak you out like this, but it seems I don't have a choice," he mused to himself, then gently brushed his finger against the bed, and ignited the ring. The static traveled through the blankets and as soon as they reached the sleeping boy, shocked him. With a startled howl, he flew out of the bed and onto the ground. "I told you to get up like four times."_

_Jean popped up from the side of the bed, his brown locks tussled and standing straight up from the shock and his hazel eyes narrowed in annoyance and suspicion. "And who might you be?" he huffed as he rose onto his feet and smoothed out his hair. _

"_Take a guess."_

"_You're one of her guardians, right?"_

_The boy blinked and turned his light eyes to him and watched him for a second before chuckling. "Hah, and I thought you were stupid."_

"_Looks can be deceiving. Had I not received that shock, I would have just thought you were some punk, with your pirate earrings and all." The boy pouted and gently grabbed the small silver hoops on his ear._

"_Don't knock my pirate earrings. They're hot."_

"_Are you here to help me figure out the ring?" Jean asked as he advanced on the boy, determination in is step and hope in his eyes. "Because I already managed to produce a flame without it!"_

"_Ne? Really now? Can you do it for me?" Jean looked down and bit his lip. "I'll take that as a no…So then it must have been some sort of dying will flame?"_

"_I dunno; it was pretty cool though!" The boy grinned and got up on his feet. _

"_Yeah. It was pretty cool the first time I did it too, except I was just a little tot. I almost shocked the hell out of Avrilina, but she didn't let me get close enough to do it," he said as he brushed his clothing smooth. "I know she doesn't let you close enough either, but keep trying…She'll need all of your support…"_

_Jean grinned and raised his hand to his head in a salute. "Yes sir."_

_The boy cracked a large, wolfish grin. "You're not too bad, bro. Keep it up and you might get places." He shook his head and looked at him with a serious gaze. "All jokes aside, I'm here to talk to you. If you're going to succeed me, you need to know a few things about this family." He tore his gaze away and looked at the walls, where pictures, mostly drawn, were tacked up and taped on nearly every inch. "…It's a hard life to be an Espinoza guardian, or, at least for me it was…" He gestured for Jean to come closer, and when he did, he took his hand and placed it on the pictures and ran his fingers over the surface of them. "This was my way of venting…Drawing these creatures I saw in my dreams…But the more and more I drew, the more and more I saw, and I began to think that they were stalking me outside of my dreams, only…they were people…" His blue gaze watered slightly, and he released the boy's hand. "…The Espinoza should have won the battle that took my life, but something went wrong that day, and I feel it was mostly my fault…"_

"_Battle…?"_

_The bi colored hair male looked at him, his eyes sad, and he pulled a paper down from the wall and folded it up. "You'll learn…If you really are the one to succeed me, then you'll know…Be careful of this one though, it'll get you and kill you if you don't watch…" Jean's fingers wrapped around the paper the boy held out, and he pocketed it to look at later. "You've already solved the ring, I assume…You were fooling with it earlier before you fell asleep…"Jean nodded, though the fact that he was being watched for that long disturbed him. "Well…All you have to do is get your flame working…To do that, you need to really concentrate on your will to live: the driving force behind all that determination I know you have…And when you do, you need to assemble the ring and put it on your finger…It'll never come off again after that, though…You'll be bound to her side as her lightning guardian." Jean nodded and looked at the ring in his pocket with a smile. "…The ring will release a tremendous amount of power once its assembled and on your finger, so you need to realize that that when you assemble it, you'll be on the enemy's radar until the ring adapts to your energy level and synchronizes." _

"_Alright…So I need to assemble it in just the right place…that's risky business…"_

"_You're in the mafia…it's going to be risky."_

"_Touché…My name is Jean. What's your name?" he chirped as he held out his free hand, which also happened to be his scarred hand. The boy blinked and looked at it, taking in the darkened flesh, which made Jean pout. "It won't hurt you or anything…it's just a scar…"_

"_That's not it…My name is Vasco," He said softly as he grasped his successor's injured hand in his own, the pink, angry skin glaring back at Jean. "I wish you luck, Jean…You have my blessing…"_

* * *

"…So that's how it happened?" Rossi asked, not quiet believing what the boy across from her said. The lightning guardian nodded vigorously, and held up the folded up paper for the red head to see.

"See? He gave this to me!"

"A piece of paper...Alright…Did he mention anything about my successor coming to talk to me…?"

"Not a thing. Sorry, Rossi…"

She shrugged and looked outside the window of the car they were in. They had been ushered out of the Espinoza mansion by its owner before they could even eat breakfast, and now were on their way back to Japan to meet up with the Vongola in a day's time. Only, with a car full of hungry and tired teenagers, that probably wouldn't happen.

"Avrilina…Can we please get something for breakfast?" Kim said as she watched the woman in the front seat for a reaction. The Sky Guardian glanced back and thought for a minute before curling back up in her seat and closing her eyes.

"Can you do it in five minutes?"

"If we pull into a fast food drive-through."

"That's your breakfast. Make it snappy. We have a plane to catch."

Sakaki, who was driving the car, looked out the window to see that there was a conveniently placed fast food chain and thanked whatever god there was as he pulled in. After gathering everyone's order, he looked at his boss for her, and she scoffed and glared out the window. "I don't eat this crap. I get sick when I go because of all the greasy and nasty stuff…"

"You have to eat too…"

"I'd rather starve."

"Stop being such a sour puss, Avri!"

"Jean, call me by my proper name or don't talk to me."

"It's a term of endearment, Avri. I could make up something more embarrassing, especially if you don't get something to eat."

Avrilina frowned and glared at him for a moment, then dug out her wallet and handed it to the driver. "…I'll have some milk and apples…" Jean grinned victoriously in the backseat and squirmed almost childishly as he waited for his food. "I swear to god, if you don't sit still, I'm going to burn the hell out of you."

"But I'm so angelic!"

"…Make me correct you again and you're dead."

"You both are being childish…Hush…" Kim said as they drove up to the window. Avrilina rolled her eyes and after checking her phone for the time, she glanced up to see the cashier at the window, and her expression deadpanned once she recognized him. The blue eyed twenty five year old blinked in confusion, trying to place her as well, and after a second, he paled and practically threw the food in the car and slammed the window shut, not bothering to take the money to pay for their meal. The Espinoza family, except for its head, stared in confusion and waited for him to come back, but after realizing that he wasn't coming back, they turned their curious gaze to Avrilina. She met their looks and shrugged, closing her green eyes. "Are you going to turn down the opportunity for free food? Drive."

The car started moving, and Sen, who was intrigued by what had just occurred, spoke up. "…What was that…?" The Spanish woman gave a hum and shrugged as if it was nothing that the cashier was so scared of her that he fled like a frightened puppy at the mere sight of her fifteen year old self.

"I…make a lasting impression," she said after a moment of silence. She tore open the bag of apples and took a bite of one of the crisp slices of fruit.

"How do you know him?"

"…He tried to hit on me when I was like, fourteen…And I put him in the hospital for it. No one else really bothered to try wooing me after that." Gabriel gave an amused chuckle as he, along with everyone else, tore into their food.

"I suppose that's something I should have expected…"

"Oh yeah. Rossi, catch," Avrilina said as she chucked her phone over her shoulder and at the red head. With quick reflexes, she caught it in her nimble hands, and read the message on the screen.

_Chrome Dokuro has been found and brought back to the Vongola base, meaning all of Tsuna's guardians have been gathered. She is in critical condition, however and will not be able to participate in the planned invasion. Return as quickly as possible._

"The Vongola gave me this thing so they could communicate with us without the enemy family getting the messages, but before we left for this grand adventure, I learned a bit about you and your involvement with the Estraneo and the tenth generation Vongola mist guardians."

Rossi blinked and stared at the screen, her eye wide in shock and her hand almost shaking with all of the emotions that ran through her veins. "Who?" She mumbled softly, "Who put her in critical condition?"

"The man has already been taken care of, if I'm correct, but the organization he works for still runs a threat to the Vongola as well as us."

"I don't really care for your family, or even the Vongola for that matter. I only care for Chrome and Mukuro."

Everyone in the car stared at the redhead in disbelief at how blunt she was was about her feelings towards the family. That was, except for Avrilina. She didn't seem to care for a moment, then, softly, a soft choking sound bubbled in her throat and her shoulders shook slightly as she tried to contain the sound. Her tan hand moved to cover her face as the noise became louder and her shaking a bit more violent. "Are you-?" Sakaki began to ask from his position in the driver's seat, but, before he could finish asking, a peal of laughter burst from her lips, and her lips were quirked up just enough to see her white teeth. Rossi narrowed her eyes, though, the left couldn't be seen under her eye patch and her fringe of hair; she didn't like the woman mocking her.

"I understand," the Spaniard managed to get out once her giggles died down, "You have the cloud ring, after all. I didn't expect you to be too concerned with the family. I didn't expect any loyalty at all, to tell you the truth." She then seemed to drop her almost lighthearted attitude in place of a more serious tone. "…While I may not demand your utmost loyalty to the Espinoza family, you must realize that ring, once it's attached to your finger, will. Your cloud flame will allow you more wiggle room, but the rest of you won't have the same benefit…"

"…I suppose those terms are acceptable," Gabriel said softly as he swished his orange juice around in its container before taking sip, "Family…That's what we are now…"

"Yes…Familia…"

"We've all come to terms with the situation, and have accepted whatever misfortunes it may bring…"

"Very well then…You have a couple of days to learn the solution to the ring from your predecessor. You'll be learning a bit with the Vongola, and a bit with me about what to expect when you first open your box…It's inconvenient that we have to wait until the day of the battle to test out your boxes, but I suppose there's no other way. You should expect something that you're somewhat familiar with, whether it be equipment, or an animal, and once you earn its trust, it will generally obey you," Avrilina said as she pulled out of her box weapons, and released the small white puppy within," though, some prove to be…troublesome…" In response to the offhand insult, the puppy pouted and bit the Spaniards finger with its tiny teeth. It pierced her skin, but didn't faze her as she waved her finger, the tiny canine still attached to it. "You'll learn to deal with them, and they'll become your most important ally, and perhaps even a friend…" She reached up and scratched the puffball's back, making it groan in pleasure and release her bloodied finger. She glanced up, her green eyes a little softer. "But…No matter what I say…You need to be careful, on an off the battlefield…I can't lose you six now…"

"Avri! I love you too-"

"I'll punch you in the face, Jean."

* * *

The Vongola HQ was quiet as everyone sat down for dinner after a day's worth of training. The talkative boys were too busy stuffing their faces with the girls' cooking to even bother mentioning a word about their training outside of nods and shaking heads. Even Yamamoto, who was always very sociable, was intent on getting back to training once his belly was full.

"You shouldn't eat so fast. You'll have a guest coming to join you soon," Reborn said as he held his hand out for Leon to crawl onto. The small green lizard crept into his palm, and after a moment of morphing, became a small timer that was counting down from ten seconds. "And you won't want to miss this visit." Tsuna's brown eyes were locked on the doorway that led into the room as the watch silently kept track of time with mocking ticks. Just as the shrill alarm sounded, the door exploded open and a body slammed down into the luckily cleaned table, but as the person fell off the table, he landed gracefully on their feet, a soft chuckle falling from his scarred chest.

"You've got to stop beating me up eventually," Jean said as he smoothed out his clothing.

"No I don't. You're awfully fun to kick when I'm angry," came a familiar growl from the doorway, and the click from her heels only confirmed Gokudera's suspicions on this person's identity. The bomber groaned softly and drank down the tea in his hands before getting up and going to storm out past them, but Reborn's voice stopped him.

"Did I tell you that you could leave, Gokudera?"

"…No."

"Then you should stay. This will be beneficial to you."

The bomber scowled, but returned to his seat to observe the family. He counted six of the seven family members, and immediately noticed that the girl with the wild red hair was not present. His thin lips drew into a scowl, and immediately made the connection that if she wasn't obeying her boss's orders, that she must be the cloud guardian. It was very rare for another to disobey their boss so blatantly, so he was positive that he was right.

"I'd like to get to work as soon as possible, if you would just ignore the stupid octopus," Avrilina said as she examined her nails from her relaxed position on the wall. She seemed a little worse for wear, and had she not insulted him as Ryohei did, Gokudera might have held his tongue. She insulted him though, and as if it was nothing. He growled and rose from his chair threateningly.

"Don't talk like I'm not here, you dumb bitch."

"Hm, how creative. At least I don't look like some old shit."

"Stop fighting, you two," Kim said, trying to calm them down. "I thought that we might try to be civilized for a few minutes."

"You're here to train these useless kids," The infant said bluntly as he raised his gun threateningly towards the trio. Avrilina raised a brow and looked at him.

"You want me to baby sit them?"

"If that's how you want to look at it, then I suppose so."

"I'm going to make the assumption you've already decided where you want each of us, no?"

Reborn smirked softly, then lowered his weapon. "You catch on quick."

"It's an…acquired trait," she said lowly.

The silver haired Italian got up again and moved towards the tan woman. "It's probably me and you, woman, so let's go…I don't want to be held behind because of you again," Gokudera said as he seized the Spaniard's tan wrist in his pale fingers. Out of instinct, she growled and raised her hand to strike him, but before she could, Reborn took hold of the situation.

"Not this time, Gokudera." This caused the boy to blink and look at the arcobaleno in confusion. "You both need a lesson in patience, and neither of you can teach the other how to master it. Avrilina will be working with Yamamoto, and you will be working with Sen."

The dark haired baseball player's head perked up at the mention of his name, and his wide brown eyes locked with her narrowed green ones as she glared at him. He he seemed to not notice her angry look though and smiled happily at her.

"I've never worked with you before! This should be a fun game!" he said as he got up and walked over to her, his hand outstretched. "Let's hop to it! I want to get back soo-"

"I'll stab you if you think of laying your fingers on me," She snarled at him and slapped his hand away, "I appreciate your assistance when I've been injured, but that gives you no right to touch me." The Rain Guardian blinked, his smile faltering for a second as he tried to comprehend what she just said, and then just as quickly as it fell, the grin was back again.

"You're just like Gokudera! He's always fussing at me too! We'll be good friends!"

"Keep our paws off and you might have an ice cube's chance in hell."

"What's that mean?"

Gokudera blinked and watched the two as if they were crazy. She seemed angered by Yamamoto, but not to the degree that she was with Gokudera. She had only slapped his hand away when it got a little too close for comfort, where she had forcefully beaten the bomber down before because he had been in the same vicinity as her. It was unbelievable how quickly she had learned to hate him and respect the baseball player. He was the boss's right hand man, so he needed to get her to like him more then she liked the stupid baseball nut!

"R-Reborn! Can't I be with her? I need to become the boss's right hand man, and this is the only way!"

The baby's black eyes turned to Gokudera. "Are you saying that you think my judgments aren't good enough for you?"

"N-No! That's not it! I just-"

"Maybe if you're lucky, you can tomorrow, but only if you finish your training for today with Sen."

"Who the hell is that?"

"That's me…" came a soft voice from the side, and Gokudera glanced over to see the boy in bright clothing. He blinked and eyed the familiar scarf, then growled lowly in annoyance when he placed the sleepy looking boy.

"You're the mist user…" Sen nodded, his messy locks bobbing gently with his head, but said nothing more to respond to the Vongola Strom guardian's aggressive tone. "Why am I with you?" The boy shrugged and walked out, his hands shoved in his fluorescent pink skinny jeans and his shoulders hunched over. Gokudera blinked in surprise, then again growled at him. "Don't you have anything to say?!" As if to be snarky, Sen glanced back at him, his eyes hidden behind his dark hair and a pair of large, fashionable glasses, then shook his head and walked out. The bomber snorted and narrowed his green eyes, then stormed out as he fiddled with a cigarette and his lighter. "Damn it…All these people are so infuriating…They must be learning from their boss…"

* * *

Yamamoto flopped back on his bead with a big sigh of relief as comfort washed over him. Avrilina had been a tough cookie towards him, and had Spartan training similar to that of Reborn, though, it was never as bad as the Arcobaleno's could get. That didn't mean that he was pain free. There were a few little woulds on his body where she had been unnecessarily rough with him and had cut his lightly tanned skin with the blade of her halberd, or where her nails had dug in too tight, or where her box animal had managed to bite him, but it was mainly just bruises that dotted his body.

He stared up at the ceiling as he allowed his thoughts to wander a bit to his newfound friend's personality. The brunette was so guarded and angry, but he was sure she had a nice side. He just needed to find that side. He didn't really mind her anger and figured she had a reason for having so much pent up rage, but it worried him that someone could be so angry and overworked. It wasn't good for anyone to have such stress, and she might get sick…

A sigh left his lips and his hand tumbled down towards the floor, but something that brushed his fingertips caught his attention. The boy glanced down and saw the corner of a small book peeking out from under the corner of the bed, and with a small smile of satisfaction, he picked the mysterious book up. There was no name on the thick black, leather bound journal, but since it was in his room, he imagined that it was his and opened the book to look inside and examine its contents.

Yamamoto immediately recognized the swirling, fancy script as handwriting as belonging to someone other than himself, and he flipped through it quickly, scanning for a name so he could return it without looking at it. There was nothing though. While he wasn't one to snoop, he wanted to return it to its proper owner, so he read through the first page in an attempt to figure out the owner.

_I've decided that your advice is good, Yamamoto…I should start writing about how I feel, but I need to write to someone to get my emotions out onto paper. I know you won't judge me for whatever I put down in ink, so you get to be the one to help me…You can't tell anyone about this though; it's our secret. I'll leave the book at your door, than you can reply to me on the other side and leave it at my door. _

Yamamoto glanced at the opposite side, and sure enough, there was his familiar handwriting that looked like chicken scratch in comparison to this person's elegant script. Figuring he'd have time later to read his reply, he continued to read this mystery person's entry.

_Life is tough right now, and I would really like for things to be simple for once…Do you ever wonder what its like to live normally? Without all the responsibility on your shoulders? I don't remember when I was relaxed….Or at least I don't remember a time when things were carefree. How do you manage to radiate such a clean, happy, and almost calming air? Everyone else is so high strung about the mafia and the stress and threats that come along with it, but you still always seem so happy, and your smile and laugh are genuine as the way your greet your friends…_

_We are friends, right? It's not something I asked; I just assumed since we're both so comfortable, that we were. If you don't want to be, I suppose I understand. You need to show me how to play baseball though. You promised me you would, so you have to. Breaking promises is a bad thing, even if you don't want to be friends-_

A soft snore bubbled in Yamamoto's chest as he fell asleep with the book in his hands. It bored him to sleep just looking at the amount of words on the page that covered both the front and back, and there were four more like it. The fact that he was worn out didn't help him focus either. On top of the pages, his fingers twitched and brushed over the long dried black ink, and gently pinched one of the sheets between the calloused tips. He'd finish the journal one day, no matter how boring it was.

* * *

I'm just going to point this out, if you have expectations for me; I'm going to screw this time line up because I haven't gotten through the entire manga. It won't be off too much, I hope, but I don't really know when something happens, and I will rarely have the OCs interacting directly with a main plotline (the only exception being chapter eight and a few future chapters.) I just loved the idea of a future arc so much, I had to shove the Espinozas in there.

I'm going to need sky OCs, and for these, you need to be very descriptive, and have a past involving the Espinoza in some way. It doesn't have to be very much, but provide some possible motives for wanting to attack them.

Question time! Who's journal is Yamamoto reading? Avrilina's? Someone I haven't introduced yet? GOKUDERA'S?!

I'm sorry for dying! I had a lot of work and health problems that kept me away. Hopefully, I'll be back in business, though!

I'd appreciate if all of you who read this would review! So do that, and send me a PM! I love to talk to you all and get your input on the story, and what you'd like to see in it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Down the Rabbit Hole

"I have something I need you to do, Avrilina."

The teenager looked down at the baby for a moment with bored interest before returning her gaze to the rowdy group of hungry mafia men and women before her. Her own family was sitting at the table with considerably more polite manners then the Vongola. Even Jean was behaving himself at the table, which surprised her at first, but then she considered the fact that he's from a high class family, and must have learned how to act when eating at a young age. Beside him, Gabriel was more engrossed in the conversation he was having with the younger, brown haired Haru then his food. Sen and Sakaki were talking quietly at the end of the table, and Kim was attempting to converse with the baseball player from the Vongola family, but he was too busy trying to hurry his was back to training by stuffing his mouth and only gave her nods or smiles in response. "Si?"

"My pupil's performance, while it has improved, is still miserably poor. His guardians aren't doing as well as I hoped either. They can't even pass the paintball dodging test," he said with his eternal poker face still on. She scoffed and smirked softly in response to their failed training.

"And what am I to do about it?"

"You are to show them what level I want them to achieve by the end of these short days."

"It took me years of hard labor to get myself to become the leader I am today. They will not learn to do it in merely days. I refuse."

"You don't have a choice in this matter. You will do it."

"You seem to be forgetting what family I hail from, Señor Reborn. An Espinoza do not bend to the demands of men."

"Do as he says, Miss Espinoza." Avrilina's green eyes widened and she glanced over her shoulder to see Bianchi looming behind her. Her tan complexion paled and she skittered back out of her seat and a few fyards back while barely managing to stay on her feet, surprising the group nearby. "It's to help everyone, so don't be stubborn."

"Si! Si Señora! A-Ahora mismo!" She stuttered out as she slid backwards and pressed against the wall, then slithered out as slowly and delicately as she could before bolting once she thought she was out of sight. Her heels were clicking rapidly as she made her way down the hall and towards what room she expected her task to be located in.

The table of kids looked at Bianchi in surprise as she watched the doorway impassively. It was dead silent before Gabriel broke it warily. "What did you do to her…?"

"Does it matter? She's going to help you with your training, so go follow her." Tsuna gulped at Reborn's words, then looked past where she went, and with encouraging smiles from his friends, got up and pursued her. She slipped through a door, her orange vest flashing as she went in, and before anyone else could go in, there was a lock and no one could get in. Reborn led them a different way and into a round glass control room that gave a view into the room where she was. She stood in the middle, her hands drawn up to her chest as if to protect herself and she was fidgeting as she stood there anxiously.

"She's…off…" Kim said as she looked through the window, her finger ghosting across the surface before she sat down.

"She may act like it, but her movements will tell a different story. Avrilina," he spoke into the intercom. When his voice came on, she perked up and stared at the wall of mirrors, waiting for his next words. "On the side, there is a pair of handcuffs. Put them on your wrists and keep them on for the rest of this exercise." Her expression deadpanned and she frowned as she caught sight of the shiny metal cuffs. With a sigh, she grabbed them and bound herself, then looked up for further instructions. "Behind your back." With a low growl, she back flipped with practiced ease and slipped her hands behind her back awkwardly. "You know the drill." When she nodded, Reborn pressed a button and there was a click in the room and a yelp from Sen as the floor opened up beneath him and he fell down to the ground. Avrilina blinked and within moments, her flames shot out from her heels, and she headed towards her Mist guardian and caught his sleeve with her teeth and hung on as she descended to the ground. "I'm changing it. Make sure neither you nor Sen get hit by any paintballs, or you will fail this exercise."

"You-!" she started, but growled and looked at her Mist guardian, who was now firmly planted on the ground and saw him looking away from her and fidgeting meekly. "HEY!" she barked at him, which caught his attention as his blue eyes glanced up to look at her. "This is going to be quick, so hang on to me…I…I can't accept failure." As if to mask her stutter, she changed her tone to a more demanding one, "So you better hold on when I tell you to!"

"I'm not good with physical activity…This isn't going to be easy for me."

"Well don't worry much. I'll protect you," she said softly and looked up at Reborn. "Alright. Hit me." He complied, and not a second later, a high speed projectile came for her face. With twirl, she moved out the way of the paint filled sphere. She flicked her head out of the way and narrowly avoided a second one. There was a louder click when a panel fell down the wall and a large black gun with rounds upon rounds of paintballs loaded into it unfolded from its palce in the side of the room. She blinked and sighed, then kicked Sen out of the way and flicked her ring off of her finger, making it disassemble in mid air before taking it into her mouth. Just as the machine gun began to unload its paint filled bullets onto Sen, Avrilina skidded in front of him and with the ring on her tongue, fully assembled, spat a largestream of orange flames out of her mouth much like a dragon would. All of the paint balls that were touched by the flame were petrified instantly and dropped to the floor and shattered. One was stuck in the barrel of the gun, and when the ammunition began to get too jammed in, the gun malfunctioned, sending a wave of paint towards them. "Hold on to me!"

"T-That's new…" Tsuna said as he watched her zip around the area with Sen hanging onto her for dear life.

"She's learned that technique quickly with the help of Lal Mirch…"

"It's been two days since she got back…And she's already learned how to use it?"

"It's amazing the things you can do when you put your mind to it."

"It's not that…" came a feminine voice from the side. Lal was leaning against the door idly, her tan cape wrapped around her figure. "She is so morbidly terrified of women that she perfected it within the first three times because she was afraid I would strike her…Her fear is stronger then her anger…"

"Scared? She doesn't seem to be the type to be scared of anything," Yamamoto said as he watched Sen wailing as they were plummeted to the ground to avoid a missile that was loaded with paint.

"That explains a lot…" Gokudera muttered lowly as his eyes were locked onto her, studying the movements she made to avoid the paintballs. "How she reacted to Haru and Kyoko the first time…Bianchi…Her own guardians too…Why though?"

"You have to find that out on your own-"

"Reborn, there are no more guns and the walls are covered…Are we done here?" Their gazes traveled back to her, and it was true. The once clean, white walls were no longer white, but were covered in a plethora of colored splatters from the floor to the ceiling and everywhere but the Espinoza boss and the boy hanging onto her for dear life. He looked as if he was going to get sick and his face was pressed into her belly so he wouldn't have to look at the ground and bright colors all over. "And where are the keys to the stupid handcuffs? My arms are starting to ache…"

"Not even a bit?!" Gokudera's yelled angrily from the intercom.

"Not a drop."

"Impossible! Let me see!"

"Well let me out and I will, abuelo! I can't stay flying forever and I don't want to ruin my shoes!" He snorted and there was a click from the door as it opened and she went out and placed Sen on his feet, only to let him fall on his face from weariness. She looked down at him and sighed, then slowly began to ease him up onto her shoulder. "Geeze…Maybe you should think about trying to be active…"

"N-No…I don't like that idea…at all…"

"Well…the next few days will be nothing but physical activity, and I can't carry you the entire time…"

"I-I know boss…I just need to rest-"

"Woman! Give me your clothing!" She gave a sigh and walked up to the hot headed bomber and glared at him in the eyes, their height the exact same.

"If that's what you want." Before he could blink, Gokudera had his jacket violently yanked off of his body, leaving him with his undershirt. When he realized what had happened, clothing was flung at his face and cut off his vision. He pulled it off his face and looked at her, but she was already walking off. "I'll bring it back eventually, but I'm not walking through the hall indecent."

"Just my jacket isn't any better! Give it back!" he yelled at her as she rounded a corner. Just as she disappeared, she tossed him a look with a small, victorious smirk. The jacket was poorly fitted on her; it barely covered up her upper thighs and it dipped off her shoulder slightly with the unfitted size. It was almost cute how small it made her look, and it left little to the imagination.

"No way. You have my clothing, I have yours. Bring them back later and you'll get your jacket. I'm going to go take a bath and relax for a few minutes, so don't bother me…"

* * *

Sen stumbled back to his room with his head reeling and his muscles weak from all the tossing and turning and rough movements that he was subject to. Everything hurt on him from his head to his toes and everywhere in between; he even felt like the large, fashionable glasses on his face ached. His hands patted the wall to open the electronic door, and after a minute of fumbling, his fingers finally found the button. The door slid open and he lifted his heavy head up to see someone standing in the doorway, waiting for him. He peered up and was met with the interested black eyes that stood just a bit taller than him.

"No fun doing that, huh?" He started as she straightened up and brushed off his plaid button up shirt and looked at Sen, who was staring up at him with round eyes. He didn't speak to him, and he didn't want to. After the silence settled in and the older boy got the message that he wasn't going to speak, he smiled softly. "If it makes you feel better, I had to do it with her too when we first started out as guardians…It wasn't any more fun with real bullets…I have the scars still, but there are too many to count…" he said softly as he looked away and ran one of his hands through his gelled back red hair. One stubborn strand popped out of place and hung in his face. "You didn't do too bad, kiddo~. You didn't even get hit."

Then boy chuckles lightly, then his friendly expression fell into a more serious one, making Sen flinch and hide behind his neon green scarf. "She's given you that rung because she apparently trusts you, but I know the attributes of those who can use the mist flame. They're deceptive, clever, liars…" The younger boy shrank away from him with every word, his fingers tapping against each other gently to try to steady his rapid heartbeat. "…So how do I know I can trust you with the will of this ring?"

The corridors were silent as Sen searched for an answer; he wasn't well acquainted with the Mafia world yet, so he wasn't sure how to answer his question yet. A shudder crept up his spine when he looked at the person he was supposed to succeed and his cold glare that was locked onto him before ducking down once again and avoiding eye contact. "I know you can think of something, Sen. You can be smart when you try."The blue eyed youngster blinked and relaxed for a moment when he spoke his name, his curiosity overshadowing his fear. The ginger boy smirked softly and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I know your name, alright…And I know a bit about you too…You're capable of more then you seem to be. Those traps you set around school for revenge against those bullies…Why you don't like to talk…I thought it was kind of cool what you did and all, but how do I know that you won't do it to her?"

"S-She's kind…I know that she's concerned about us, even if she doesn't want to show it…I…I trust her…"

"Trust doesn't go far…"

"She's told me a little bit about you too, Kry…" It was the past mafia boy's turn to blink and cock his head to the side in surprise. "She said you lived in the city dump with you baby sister…and that she brought you home because she something in her gut that told her to help you, even though she really didn't want to…And that you also tried to trick her with illusions and traps when she made you angry, but it never worked since they were mediocre at best…" Kry blushed softly and turned his head away, pouting obstinately. Sen smiled softly. "But she said you liked butterflies…" He held up his closed fist and he concentrated on his hand for a minute before opening it. A small blue butterfly sat in his palm, its wings perfectly formed and its tiny, curled antennas bobbing slightly. After a moment of hesitation, it flapped its wings and rose into the air with bobbing movements. It rose up and up until it hit the ceiling and phased though soundlessly. "It's not much…but she trusts me too…doesn't that mean something?"

The previous mist guardian's eyes were still locked onto the ceiling, but after a moment, he nodded and looked back at the boy. "I suppose you have a point…She's not a very trusting woman, especially with such intimate information…If you abuse the power I'm going to show you in anyway. I will come and haunt you so hard, your mother will feel it." Sen nodded quickly and averted his gaze again, the silence washing over him once more. "Look up and watch me…I have to show you how to do this, and you have to copy me, or it won't work…"

* * *

On the other side of the base, Rossi was having trouble getting sleep. Having her friend in her possible death bed made her uneasy and unwilling to sleep. With only her own weak power supporting her illusion organs, Chrome's life was ticking away and there was nothing that the red head could do about it. Her hands were pressed against her face, and she whined lowly and let her mind wander. Where was Mukuro? He wouldn't just abandon Chrome so quickly and without warning. He must have run into some trouble in his adventures outside of the walls that Rossi was caged in. It was nothing that he couldn't handle…right?

She groaned and tossed her head back in a weak attempt to prevent her mind from wandering too far into a place where she didn't want to be. Her eyes drooped slightly as her red hair settled back on her shoulders. "God damn you, Mukuro…Stop taking so long and fix her up…"

"You shouldn't put our faith in others, dear."

Rossi popped up at the unfamiliar voice, her hands flying to her pistols and pointing it at the person that had suddenly appeared in the chair besides her without her knowing. Her one gold eye focused on him and her lips were drawn into a deep set frown. The dark haired man seemed to be relaxed despite the weapons being pointed at him. "You're going to have to learn to put your faith in only yourself if you don't want to be met with disappointment."

"And who are you to say such words?"

He turned his head to her, his frown mirroring hers, but his eyes portrayed an eerie calmness. He was dressed like some sort of punk with tight red plaid skinny jeans that hugged his thin legs with a chain that dangled loosely off the right side. He had a dark black shirt that was loose on him and had the top four buttons undone that showed off his toned chest that was riddled with scars. His lip had a thick, shiny piercing through the bottom corners, and his black hair covered the left side of his face with a dramatic part.

"The person you're supposed to be sucking up to, the Cloud guardian of the Espinoza family before you. My name is Tadeo. "

She narrowed her glare and her lip twitched in annoyance. "I don't such up to anyone, much less any people from that woman's family."

He raised a dark brow in skepticism, but she stood resolute. It caused him to crack a smirk and let out a soft chuckle of amusement. "At least you have enough guts to keep you values. Sit down already. I'm not going to hurt you. I don't have all day to spend sitting here chatting with you."

"I'd rather stand."

A low growl bubbled in his throat and he pointed to her seat. "Sientate."

It was Rossi's turn to quirk up an eyebrow. "You know Spanish too? You don't look as if you're from there."

"I'm not. I'm Portugese. When I was alive and training, Spanish was a language that everyone in the house needed to know. Now sit." She continued to resist, and with a sigh, the man dug the palm of his hand into his face. "Fine. Be stubborn. You better listen to me though." She nodded and put her weapons away, but remained standing next to Chrome's bed. "I'm not going to ask why you think you should get the secret of this ring…I really don't care to tell you the truth. I'm going to tell you that you're a cloud guardian, and your aloofness might keep the Espinoza family from falling apart. Trust your gut and when you think you should disagree with your boss, do it. The ninth's cloud guardian obviously didn't do the job right, and everything has been shot to hell."

"I don't quite understand."

"Trust your instincts and speak your mind. You've got it down already, but I need you to remember to go with what you think is right. I didn't trust my instincts, and here I am now…dead." He took his puzzle ring off of his finger and looked at her. She copied him by retrieving the identical jewelry out of her pocket. "Alright…watch and copy me."

* * *

"I met Lasaro last night…"

Avrilina looked up from her place at the stove to stare at Gabriel in surprise. "You did now? I suppose you've gotten your ring figured out then…" He held up his hand to show her the glimmering yellow stone and lowered his hand when she nodded in approval. "…Is he okay…?"

"Yeah…He told me a bit about you…"

"Such as?"

"You made him a herb garden for his birthday when you were nine." A soft blush flashed across her face for a moment before she nodded and pulled the food out of the oven and plopped them onto plates for her guardians. The puffy, cupcake looking Magdalenas smelled warm and enticing that they couldn't help but dig into the pastries onto their plates.

"I'll assume everyone has their rings then?"

"No…" Sakaki said lowly as he picked at his food. "I have yet to get any word…And the invasion is tomorrow…"

"…His name is Emil." Sakaki looked up, his blue eyes curious. "Emil Villanueva was my rain guardian…He'll come…don't worry…" The boy nodded and continued to pick at his food.

"Avrilina…Who's that jacket belong to?"

She looked at the black jacket that hung loosely around her for a moment, then shrugged and turned to the rest of the food she cooked and finished plopping them on the plates for the rest of the people living there. "The stupid octopus."

"Don't you start calling me that too!" came the voice of the said boy as he entered the room. She heaved a sigh and continued cooking as if he hadn't said anything. His frown deepened, and he went behind her and pulled gently on the jacket. "Give it back."

"No. I don't see my clothing."

"It's getting washed. Give."

"No. It's mine now. Get over it."

"Woman, you're starting to piss me off. Give it back."

"No. Stop touching me."

"Give me my jacket and I will-"

"For the love of god, shut up!"

The two Europeans looked over at Rossi, who was sitting at the end of the table farthest away from everyone. "Your stupidity is beyond belief. Silver head, shut up and let her keep it. Boss, kick him in the face." Avrilina gave a soft chuckle at Rossi's request, and then shoved the shocked bomber away from her. Before he could go back, Tsuna decided to intervene before things got too messy. On the side, Yamamoto was laughing merrily, and for once, everything seemed normal.

"Avrilina!" came a soft feminine voice that caught the girl's attention long enough to stop bickering with the bomber. She yanked her hands away from him and placed them behind her back as if she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Without the support, Gokudera lost his balance and fell on his face with a yell of surprise and pain. Kyoko smiled softly and went up to the taller, blushing girl, not noticing the look of complete and utter terror on her face. "We're having a party tonight! Be sure to come and hang out with us!" She nodded quickly and after the younger girl left the room, she released a sigh and walked out herself.

"Behave while I'm gone…"

Jean gave a goofy grin and waved, "We always behave."

"You expect me to believe that?" Jean's expression turned to that of a kicked puppy, and a tiny smirk crawled its way onto her lips. "Be sure to take your medication, Jean. I don't want another mishap like last time." She left the room before he could comment back, and with a pout, he continued to eat his food.

"Not nice!"

* * *

Night had begun to fall over Namimori. It provided ample cover for Avrilina as she snuck around the town, the hood of her black jacket up and the zipper up all the way. She crouched down behind fences as she made her way across town, a certain spot in mind. Quickly, she darted across alleys and streets, making sure no one saw her before she slid to the spot she had in mind: the entrance to a sewer. Her long fingers yanked it open and the smell that wafted up nearly knocked her off her feet. With a groan, she covered her nose and shimmied her way in. "…Down the rabbit hole…" she muttered as she fell into the darkness. Just at the last moment, her flames flared from her heels and saved her from a nasty fall into the sewage. With a snort, she took off down the line.

Off in the distance, she could see a small metallic doorway loomed in front of her tauntingly. Her lips were drawn in a thin line and once she arrived at the doorway, she yanked it open carelessly and darted in, her heels no long ignited as she sprinted across the floor. "I was right-" Her sentence was cut off as a thick piece of metal slammed across the back of her head and she tumbled onto the floor with an audible thump. She yelped and she had only just opened her box weapon before another blade came down upon her and clashed with her halberd. She stared up at the statue that was pinning her down, trying to remember the familiar features as it pressed against her. With a loud roar of indignation, she shoved the statue off, sending it to the floor. Soft footsteps pattered across the floor quickly, and Avrilina turned to meet the source, only to pause, her eyes wide, before an heavy, blunt object to her abdomen sent her sprawling onto her back.

The person above her held a small doll in her dainty, wrinkled fingers, and behind her was a large golem that was poised to strike the girl. Her long brown hair was done up into a tight, neat bun, and was streaked with silver. The eyes were unmistakable to the teenage girl, and with a large, toothy grin, the old woman made her next move. "Buenas noches, mi nieta tonto."

* * *

And there's the cliff hanger. Boom.

I've been so busy the past two weeks. Not only that, I had most of this chapter typed up, and I was going to post it on Thanksgiving day, but then, my computer up and deleted it. The whole thing. I couldn't retrieve it, and after that, I lost a bit of muse for this. Fear not though! I have it back!

My updates still won't be consistent though. I have school, and its killing me. I promise that that the next chapter will be full of action though!

Anyway. I love you all~ I thought I'd let you know that again. What's killing me is the lack of reviews though. I want to know what you think I should change, and how you think I should do it. I also know what you want to see happen, who you're rooting for, everything! So please guys? It really helps me write faster.

Alright. Here's the question this time: What's your favorite crack couple? I'll admit it; I think that Gokudera and Mukuro as a couple would be hilarious.

Anyway. I'll see you next time guys! Thank you for all the support and amazing fan art! I love your fan art! If you want to draw any of the characters, throw me a PM and I will be more than happy to let you do it! I think I might cry out of sheer joy if you do.

(This will be revised once I have time.)


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Reappearance**

"Where is she?!"

"I don't know Vongola!"

"Guys! We have to go before this gets out of hand!"

The guardians of the two families ran around the base looking for the Espinoza boss, who was nowhere to be found. Gokudera was yanking out his hair in annoyance at her antics. "God! If this woman messes up this invasion for the tenth, I'll kill her!" On his side, Jean growled and butted heads with him as they ran along the hallways.

"Touch her and I won't be happy!"

"I don't care if you're happy or not!"

"We'll do this without her!" The red haired cloud guardian said a she flicked her finger towards the exit they were to emerge from. "If she's not in here, the obviously she's out THERE! So shut up and maybe we'll find her on the way there! If not, I'm sure she's smart enough to find out where we are." There was a sudden silent agreement, and the two families emerged from within.

As they made their way out, the details of the invasion were repeated to them. The Vongola would enter via the air vents and make their way through them and to the designated area on the map. The Espinoza would be heading through another area, a sewer line, and making their way to the designated meeting area via that route. The Spanish family's objective was to remain stealthy and undetected unless completely necessary, since their flames were sealed in their rings and virtually undetectable until activated.

Soundlessly, when the time to part came, the Vongola and Espinoza exchanged reassuring glances. Jean gave a grin to them and tapped his headphones softly to as if to say _"call if you get into any trouble" _before following the others down the dark hole. Last was the small Vietnamese girl, who looked at them intently for a moment, specifically at Yamamoto. He blinked his wide brown eyes, then, as if he remembered something, he dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out a orange pair of headphones with the number forty nine painted on the side in large white letters. Pleased with the communication device meant for her boss, Kim gave the boy a soft bow before slipping down after the rest.

She climbed down quickly, perhaps a bit too fast. Her fingers slipped on the mucky surface and she fell down, yelping in fear before the medical expert of the group caught her in his arms. Kim's gold eyes locked on his, and he gave her a soft smile before putting her down on the ground. "Walk in a straight line if you don't want to walk in sewage…"

"Why did WE have to come in this way again?" Jean groaned as he avoided the tiny rats that skittered across the floor. "It reeks and there are rats everywhere!"

"Because Reborn told us this was the best way, and Avrilina agreed, so with both of them waiting to punish us, we had no better options."

"…This is true…"

A nervous silence settled over them as they traversed down the maze of tunnels just below Namimori. They tried to keep their minds from wandering to the worst case scenarios, but it was becoming a difficult task the nearer they got to their destination. The minutes ticked by, and the only noise was their harsh breathing and the soft splashed of their feet on the damp concrete. Sen seemed to be having to most trouble keeping up with the group; his breath was labored and his cheeks were red with exhaustion as they ran. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they arrived at a shiny door that seemed oddly out of place against the mucky walls. Kim was first to it and her hand hovered above the gleaming metal handle, contemplating whether or not entering was a good idea.

"Do we even know what's past this door…?"

"Avrilina is!" Jean chirped as he took her hand under his and swung open the door. "So it can't be…too…bad…" His words trailed off as his hazel eyes widened in terror. Blood was smeared all over the once clean, white walls, and there were human shaped dents all over the room from the floor to the ceiling and all over the walls. Handprints dotted the walls, and there were obvious signs of a struggle on the ground before the flailing seemed to stop and the red liquid pooled for a moment before the person was dragged off. "Oh god…This can't be good…"

"What happened here? Did a pig get slaughtered…?"

"I don't think it was a pig…" Sakaki said quietly from his place near the largest puddle of blood. He snatched something from it, and held it out for all of them to see. It was a familiar looking box with an intricate puzzle top, but the orange sides were smeared with dark red blood. "Avrilina was here…And she's not the type to leave important things around with no cause…"

Jean's eyes watered for a second and his heart fluttered uncomfortably in his chest. He wiped the wetness away and took it in his hands. "S-She can't be…"

"She's not the type to die so quickly. Have some faith in her, okay?"

Jean nodded and looked at the door where the blood exited in an uneven line. He bit his lip gently and took a deep breath, then let a smile cross his lips. "She's probably waiting, so let's get a move on it."

* * *

"Those stupid Espinozas haven't contacted us yet," Gokudera snorted as he followed Tsuna through the hallways. Tsuna looked down for a moment, contemplating what to say to the bomber to comfort him. Anything from his mouth would probably make him feel better just because of his Storm guardian's affection for him, but nothing appropriate came to mind. He seemed worried for them, even if it was a little callous. Yamamoto helped him out a little bit by throwing in a lighthearted comment that voiced the Vongola tenth's thoughts.

"Don't worry, Gokudera~ I'm sure she's just fine."

The pale Italian blinked in surprise and looked up for a moment, an astonished look on his thin face, but when realization sunk in, his green eyes narrowed and his lips drawn into a scowl. "I'm not worried for HER. I'm worried because I'm sure they're going to fuck this up!"

"I wouldn't worry too much~. They have more experience than us, it seems."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Yamamoto raised a brow, his lips still quirked, and continued. "Well, she's been playing this game for her whole life, it seems~. The other seem to be familiar with the rules too, and since she knows what she's doing, they know what they're doing, right?"

"Well that doesn't mean they know better than us!"

"You two shut up!" Lal snapped at them. "If you keep your shouting, then we'll get caught and be in a lot of trouble we don't want!" The two boys shut up, and while Yamamoto kept his eye contact, Gokudera tore his gaze away stubbornly and kept up at Tsuna's side. The boss looked at him, and then offered a soft, reassuring smile.

"They'll pull through…Let's just focus on our part."

The bomber's eyes lit up and he gained a ton of confidence at just those nine words. "Alright, Tenth!"

* * *

Sakaki peered around the corner into the room where the bloody drag marks led into. There was someone in their way in the room, but before he could identify the person, the figure had moved out of his view and behind the wall. All he saw was the flash of a white uniform, and red hair, so he assumed that he was one of the enemies.

"What are we going to do?"

He bit his lip and looked at the ring that was in his palm, trying to think of a solution to their problem. On his side, one of his box weapons violently shook, drawing his attention to it, and he understood its actions. "I'll go in and try to distract the person. You five make a run for it, and when I'm done, I'll catch up to you soon."

"You sure you can do this?"

He glanced back at Rossi with his stormy blue eyes, and then looked away with a dusting of pink crossing his cheeks. "I'm positive...The person looks familiar, so maybe I won't have to resort to violence…"

"Don't hold back if you do though…" He nodded then straightened up and walked in slowly.

The person didn't seem to notice anything other than the designs of the wall as the Espinoza tenth generation guardians passed smoothly through the room. His eyes were fixated on a particular spot and his back was to the rain guardian. He was totally off guard, and Sakaki, wanting to avoid as much conflict as possible, tried to follow the others out. But before he made it, the door slammed closed before him and nearly chopped off his toes. Luckily, his quick reflexes prevented that from happening, and he turned to see the person staring at him with deep red eyes.

Sakaki swallowed his spit nervously and held up his hands up in defense. "…Please let me pass…I don't like to fight, but I will if you give me no choice…" The red head closed his eyes for a minute and looked away from the Espinoza rain guardian, then held up one hand and made strange signs with it that Sakaki didn't know. "…I don't know sign language…Speak to me with words." The boy shook his head and then, after a moment of contemplation, he looked straight up, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. Sakaki's eyes narrowed in confusion, his dark brows knitted together slightly, before he looked up as well.

Above him was a large creature that was floating through the air lazily as if it was swimming through the ocean. It was much too large to be a normal fish, and when he noticed the lack of scales and the familiar blunt head, he realized that it was a whale, a large, blue whale. Its front fins were coated in a soft blue flame along with its tail that flapped up and down slowly, propelling it though the room at an even, and calm pace. It turned, and its dark eyes locked onto his and with a low groan, it turned its massive body around and watched him, its mouth slightly parted open.

The boy before him had drawn his weapon, a long, thin, almost rounded blade that gleamed an unnatural silver color. His head was safely tucked away in the silver hilt that resembled a cup. He stared town the boy and tapped the tip of his blade against the ground impatiently, waiting for him to get ready to fight. Sakaki blinked; a smart person would have attacked already. He must be either polite, or a little dim. Either way, Sakaki still didn't want to fight this boy, so he refused to get into a proper fighting stance. "I don't want to fight!" The boy's calm red eyes suddenly narrowed into slits and a scowl worked its way onto his face, and his rounded blade burst into blue flames. At the same time, the ring on his opposite hand ignited, and he held it up for him to see. Sakaki stared at it, trying to place the intricate, swirling bands that wove around the boy's finger like vines, then realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He dug in his pockets frantically and yanked out his bands of rings.

The person across from him wore and ignited the ring that he had yet to figure out.

Across from him, the boy sneered and stuck out his tongue, then held up his blade so Sakaki could see that he was still ready to fight. Sakaki refused to fight though, and instead, chose to question the person. "So…You're…Emil, was it?" The red head rolled his eyes and nodded. "I thought everyone was dead." His deadpanned expression told Sakaki what his voice could not. "How did you live?" The boy snorted angrily, and then waved his blade about in annoyance, as if he was fighting someone. "…I don't want to."

Above, the whale gave a loud roar like bellow, speaking for his master's annoyance. Sakaki hissed and covered his ears, trying to block out the painful sound. "I won't!" It wailed once more, but Emil, who was seemingly unaffected by the sound, waved his hand about in a angry, jerking sort of way that gave away his obvious frustration. His fingers formed signs once more, though they were too quick for him, even if he could read what he was saying. "I can't understand you! But I won't fight, if that's what you want!" Emil threw his hands down, then stalked over to the wall and slashed away at it quickly. The flame coated blade scraped against the metal wall, and tiny, but visible marks appeared. As he continued, his Message became clearer. _A-V-R-I-L-I-N-A. _

"You know where she is? Tell me!" The boy looked at him with fiery red eyes, then held up his blade with a quirked brow. Sakaki gave a sigh, and then cracked his fists. "…I seem to have no choice…Very well then…Let's make this quick…"

* * *

Avrilina woke up to a headache and the taste of iron in her mouth. She coughed and raised her hand to her face, only to see it stained crimson. She looked at the drying substance, and then the memories came flooding back to her. Her pupils contracted in fear, and she looked up at the person dragging her along by her foot. Her breath quickened and as her eyes connected with the hand on her ankle. She spotted a familiar gold ring, one with a shining orange stone in the middle and three other stones on each side. Her split bottom lip quivered and she instinctively let out a piercing shriek and struggled. Her heel ignited, and with a howl, the old woman let go. Avrilina scrambled off and took off, the clack clack clack sound of her shoes being the only sound besides her breathing. She grabbed for the box that contained her halberd, but it was nowhere on her body. She breathed in sharply and sped up upon hearing another person chasing after with the same clack clack clack her own shoes were producing as she scampered away.

She rounded a corner, the blood stained purple of the jacket she had stolen fluttering behind her as she ran. A startled man stared at her, not sure what to do, but before he could say a word, she pounced, her hands covered in flames and her lips drawn back in a snarl. Her long fingers wrapped around the man's neck and yanked at the skin mercilessly. His screams were cut off with a gurgle as the blood pooled in his mouth, and after a second of suffering, he had passed. Avrilina didn't care about this person though; all she wanted with the box that was in his hands. She screeched in fear and tore it out of his stiff, dead fingers, her blood and heart racing as she did, it was pried out, and she opened it up. Her hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword that was covered in crackling green flames, and just before the woman's bladed arm contacted her face, she pulled the sword up and blocked, shocking her. The older woman stumbled back with a grunt, but quickly recovered and stared the younger girl down angrily.

The anger began to fade, and a large, half moon grin replaced it as she grabbed a second box in her hand that wasn't covered in thick, scaly gold armor. She ignited the too familiar ring on her armored fingers and pressed it into the box, releasing the weapon inside.

When her hands wrapped around the strange, doll like toy, sharp, gold attachment on her arm disappeared into another box and left her practically defenseless. Avrilina knew better then to charge this dangerous person in front of her though. She was much worse then she looked. The older woman cackled, her green eyes glinting and her voice high and dry. "Scared, mi nietecita?"

Avrilina gulped, and as if the response was automatic, she told the truth. "S-Si abuela…"

The old woman's eyes narrowed slightly and her tongue darted across her upturned lips. "You still obey me like a puppy. It's a bad habit for an Espinoza woman to have. How shall I break you of it?" She crouched down and dragged her doll in the blood on the ground that had originated from Avrilina's wounds until it was soaked thoroughly with the red, sticky liquid. The young woman's eyes widened and her lips trembled as her mind raced inside her head. Before a logical solution could enter her mind, her fighting reflex took hold of her and she darted forward, her sword skimming the ground with a metallic squeal. The older woman looked at her, not even getting ready to dodge. With a soft hum, her held up the doll and pulled revealed the thin, long needle in her hand. At the end was a tiny orange flame much like Avrilina's was lit at the end, and she poked it gingerly into the doll's thigh with a cackle.

The tenth generation Espinoza screeched in pain suddenly and stopped in her tracks, her legs trembling. Her left thigh was burning and her jeans began to darken in the spot that the doll was stabbed. Her breath came out in pants and her eyes were wild with panic and pain, much like that of a cornered animal. With a howl, she tossed the sword at the old woman. She rolled her eyes, and easily side stepped it. The blade sliced a hole in the coat she had, but she didn't notice.

"Stupid granddaughter, reckless actions like that will never hurt me," she snarled out as she held her needle in her delicate fingers. She placed it in her lips and licked the droplets of blood from it, her pupils not slits of sadistic pleasure. Without warning, she dragged it across the doll's body, making a slight incision from its shoulder, across the middle of its chest, and down to its ragged hips. The mark appeared on the young Espinoza with a spray of blood. Avrilina's mouth fell agape and her hands went to her wounds in a weak attempt to stop the flow. A moment later, her eyes rolled back into her head, hiding the color, and she fell to the ground, her face slamming into the blood stained metal with a sharp, painful sound. The old lady rolled her eyes and went to her granddaughter and nudged her with her foot. "Get up. You're not dead yet. Espinozas don't die so quickly."

Avrilina's fingers twitched and she groaned softly with the pressure on her side, but she made no move to fight her. She was easily nudged onto her back by her prodding foot, and when the woman pressed her bloodied heel onto her shallow, but painful wound on her chest, the brunette gave a whimper of displeasure and opened her tired eyes. Her eyes caught the incision in her pocket, and the glimmer of her box weapons made her pause. If she could get them, she stood a chance of getting away. _But how? All she had was…_

"Get up, useless little girl. Your punishment isn't over yet."

She had little choice in the situation; she had to use whatever resources she had.

With a battle cry, Avrilina sunk her teeth into the woman's ankle and successfully threw her off balance. As expected, her four box weapons flew from her pocket from the hole, and she caught them. She ignited her ring and smashed the large flame into the port. The top clicked softly and slowly as the gears and puzzle like top opened, but once the doorway of the box opened, a ball of orange darted out and aimed for the elder. The graying lady held up the doll as defense, but with a slight turn, the spinning, flaming ball changed its course and collided with her wrist, making her drop the doll in her own blood that was pooling from the incisions on her ankle. She narrowed her eyes and grabbed the creature out of mid air, making the little dog squeal and wriggle around in her hand grip. "Usted putita. You will pay for this with your life."

The younger tried to make her escape, but a sudden groan and shudder from the building threw her on her back. The harsh blow elicited a yell of pain from her, but the room she was in began to shift and rise, cutting her off from her assailant below. She grabbed her box, and the small white fuzz ball that was in her the Espinoza ninth's hand returned to its depths with a click from the tiny gears. Her eyes locked with her grandmother's eyes that were glaring at her from her crouched position on the floor as she tended to her wound; the young Spaniard's teeth must have done more damage then she intended them to do. Slowly, but surely, the room's upward motion cut the staring contest, and she released a breath of relief once she was alone. Finally, that battle had ended, but only for a little while.

Avrilina looked down at her wounds, and then with a groan, she removed the bloodied jacket that didn't belong to her. She held it up and with a sigh, she placed it on the ground next to her; it would have to be cleaned before it was returned, if she had any manners. For now though, she needed rest. The Espinoza girl couldn't just sleep thought; she needed a bit of protection. Her box animal would do adequately. Her fingers wrapped around two of the boxes, and once the small creature was released from the first box, she pressed ring into the second, just as he vision blackened and her body finally gave out on her.

* * *

I looked at my reviews last chapter, and I was suddenly happy. I had sixty nine reviews. Oh Mukuro, you sly dog~

Anyway, I know this chapter is really short, but I figured this was a good place to stop for now.

For the next few weeks, my updates will be a little shorter and a less frequently updated. Testing is coming up and I need to study, like, incredibly bad. ;n;

Anyway, thank you everyone for all your support. You've been great. I have two questions for you this time though.

Have any of you ever heard of lunaescence . com? If you haven't, and you like OC stories/reader inserts, you should go check it out. They have a ton of KHR stories, and they're nicely written (even if a little short). If you have heard of it, I've been thinking of getting an account. Should I? Do you have any opinions on this site. I'd love some opinions on the site for submission rules and whatnot.

Anyway, here's the fun question: If you could have any box animal/weapon, any box animal/weapon at all, even if it is already a different flame then you like, what would you want? I would totally want a storm or a sky hedgehog, since I'm either a storm or a sky flame and my favorite animals are hedgehogs.

Anyway~ Thanks a lot for all your support, even though my spelling and rammer mistakes are horrible in these chapters *le sob*. I want to get the content out, then I will go back and nit pick a few little details once everything is done. My apologies, but if I don't get content chapters out when my muse is high, they might now come out at all. So review, favorite, draw fan art (I love this so so so much), and refer this story to others! Until next time~

Love,  
Crimson


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Activation**

The ground gave a mighty creek and a shudder, knocking the Espinoza family off balance with the force. Almost everyone managed to stay on their feet except for Kim, who was as light as a feather. She bounced up on her feet as it violently rumbled and she tumbled back a few feet. She attempted to catch her balance, but just as she got into a stable position, the floor beneath her rumbled and rose up, taking her with it as it went up and once again knocked her on her backside.

"Woah! What the hell is going on?!" Jean shouted as he tried to pursue the girl, but Gabriel beat him to the block and scrambled through the rapidly closing space.

"I don't know!" the doctor called back to him, his words quick as he tried to get his message to the lightning guardian before the gap closed. "You keep going as planned! We'll try to meet you there! Be stealthy and try to find her-" With a loud crash, the area closed, making a thick wall between the two boys. Gabriel could faintly hear Jean's muffled screaming for him and pressed the palm of his hand to his face. He JUST told him to be stealthy, and the screaming was the least stealthy thing he could do. "Idiot…"he grumbled.

"Well, we'll just ignore him and he'll stop in a minute or two and be on his way. I'm sure he's not that dumb," said the little Asian girl as she stood up. Her long hair was mussed and she looked a little annoyed at the fact that she was knocked around so easily, but was otherwise unharmed. She gave a soft sigh and looked up at him. "We should find a way to the meeting place. This can't be the only place that moved."

Gabriel nodded and they walked forward, their footsteps loud in the corridors. "The real question is who moved them…"

"We'll find that out once we find this Irie Shouichi guy. Don't think too much about it though, it'll distract you, and we need to be on guard."

"I suppose you're right…"

A loud roar came from deep within the recesses of the corridor and echoed all around the two Espinozas in the hall. A blast of cold air came from behind it, and blew their dark hair from their faces and whipped it back behind them. With his arms in front of his face and shielding his delicate eyes from the frosty air. "This place if full of scary things…Do you have any idea what that was?"

"It sounded sort of like…a dog?"

"…Should we check it out…?"

"It would be unwise…but where are our other options…?" She was right. The hallways were a straight shot with no doors or alternate routes. The only choice they had was to go forward towards the unknown noise. Gabriel gulped, but nodded and walked forward, his strides long and little shaky with nervousness. In an attempt to keep up with the tall man, Kim had to double her pace so her footsteps were quick and short. The sun guardian looked down and said, "I'll protect you...don't worry." She looked at him with confusion. She was totally at ease and he, with his fingertips were shaking slightly as he walked, was telling HER that he was going to protect her?

"I can protect myself perfectly fine. You should worry more about yourself. You're shaking a bit."

"It's just a little chilly…"

"Keep telling yourself that. I think it's pleasant…"

The roar got louder and the sudden brush of wind got more violent and would have pushed Kim back a few feet if Gabriel hadn't grabbed onto her wrist and stood his ground. "We're really close. What the hell could be causing that blast?"

"Only one way to find out…Turn the corner…"

That wasn't the only way to find out though. The source of the noise crashed into the wall in front of them with a howl of pain. The creature crumpled up onto the ground for a moment before getting up again. "H-Huh? Does it have…two heads?"

"It does…Its familiar too- Avrilina!"

The dog turned its two massive heads to the two for a moment, its purple eyes friendly. Its body, black and long furred, had long scratches on his muscular frame. Around its neck was a purple bow that was still nearly tied, though it had some blood spatters on it. With a snarl, it took its eyes off the two and met the creature that was trying to hurt it. The scaly reptile darted forward and screeched as it pounced on top of the dog, its fangs digging into its neck. On its shoulders was a blazing golden flame that shimmered as it wriggled about, trying to get a grasp on the large canine. With a wail, the dog's bow rapidly grew and pierced the lizard through the chest, spraying its dark red blood all over the walls. It screamed, but its wound quickly closed up and its tail, which had grown due to the activation factor in its flame, wrapped around the dog's midsection, and the reptile wrapped itself around the canine, immobilizing it.

As the two box animals were fighting on the side, a dark figure skirted slowly around the corner, his body covered in all black. Over his face was a large, bulky mask made of metal that had large, golden eyes goggles so that he could see. The end drooped to a blunt point, much like the beak of a bird, about five inches away from his face. The only skin that could be seen was his mouth right under his mask. His robed arms were wrapped around the body of a girl that was curled up in his arms, unusually still, her green eyes closed and her clothing covered in blood. Strangely enough, her body wasn't covered in injuries despite the fact that she was soaked in blood.

Gabriel's breath caught in his throat as his eyes locked with the person's gold goggles. He knew who this was; it was Lasaro, one of his boss's previous guardians. He was a hard fellow to forget with the exaggerated, plague doctor garments.

"That's…"

"Yeah…Kim…I'll take care of the man…You need to get her out of here after I separate them…"

"Wait, I can't carry her as easy as you can! She's like sixty pounds heavier them me, and a lot taller! I'll fight him, and you get her out of here."

"I'm better equipped for this then you…I know this man's weaknesses…Avrilina told me about him."

"How does she know…?"

"It's one of her guardians…Look at his ring."

"…I knew that…I was just testing you!"

He gave her a soft grin, then turned his gaze to the cloaked man in front of them, who was waiting patiently for them to decide their tactics. Gabriel reached in his pocket and grabbed the scalpel he took with him out and removed the case from around the sharp tip. In return, the man shook his head and opened the box hidden in his cloak. With a flash of gold, the weapon inside shot out and he grabbed it nimbly, Avrilina now drooped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. In his hands was a bone saw that shimmered with golden flames on the tip of each tooth of the blade. If he got touched by those flames, the bacteria count on his body would skyrocket to an unhealthy degree and the deadly bacteria that was safe in a small quantity, would begin to try to make the new sun guardian their lunch. Gabriel gulped and his grip tightened in nervousness, but he took a deep breath and calmed himself. He knew all of the points of a body, and if he wanted to, could easily slaughter this man, but he was a doctor as well. That must mean he knows all that he knows if not more. He'd be matched, so he'd have to be careful.

"…Watch for your chance to go, and when it looks safe, grab her and run." Kim nodded and with her chopsticks at the ready, she watched for her change as Gabriel dashed forward. Their metal surgical instruments clanged together as the boy raised his weapon to black the blade. He was careful to avoid the golden flames on the saw, and just before the tip of the fire brushed his skin, he jumped back away from it. He glared at the man and again, when the plague doctor didn't move from his position a few feet away from him, Gabriel advanced once more. The cycle went on for a while: Charge, block, dodge, glare, charge again, repeat, and Kim was starting to realize that it would go on until he dropped Avrilina. She bit her lip in thought, then flicked her chopstick at the man and nailed him in the shoulder, making him grunt in pain and slacken his grip so Avrilina fell to the ground. Gabriel saw his chance and pounced on the man, knocking him back and slicing him along a major vein along his thigh. Lasaro hissed as the sharp metal bit his skin and grabbed a handful of the doctor's spiked brown hair. Gabriel grunted in pain and raised his scalpel to block the saw that came dangerously close to his face. Their eyes met for a moment, and behind his goggles, Gabriel's amber irises caught a glimpse of Lasaro's brown eyes. They still seemed inhumanly kind, even as they were trying to kill each other. It was almost painful to raise a blade to him, and his strength waned just a bit, allowing the blade to near his neck more and more.

There was a whizzing sound, and another one of Kim's chopstick lodged itself into the man's body, making his yell in pain and released Gabriel. Now back to his senses, he picked up his boss and danced back, making sure that she was safe. He checked her vitals, and while her pulse was a little weak and quick as it tried to restore its lost blood, she seemed okay. Handing over to Kim, who promptly dashed off the quickest she could with the much larger woman in her grip, he turned his attention back to him. "…Why did you heal her if you only plan on hurting her?"

"…Si ella muere, entonces los anillos Espinoza se vuelven inútiles. Ella necescita para mantenerse vivo."

Gabriel didn't know much Spanish, but he knew his Latin quite well. _She needs to live…? _"That makes little sense…"

"No es su preocupación."

For the first time, the bird faced doctor charged, and he was rather quick on his feet despite the heavy attire he chose to wear. Gabriel barely had time to block the attacks that came for him. He cursed in his head and glanced at the direction that the two girls had escaped in and turned his attention back to his assailant. _Be safe._

* * *

Sakaki slammed into the wall with a grunt as he was thrown back by large, glowing blue whale that loomed in front of him. It moaned loudly, causing the boy's eardrums to vibrate and for him to clutch them and wail loudly in pain. His hands were covered in sticky red blood from the sheer volume of the sound that had been hammering at his hearing for the entire fight, but he had no time to dwell on his pain. He stumbled back just in time to avoid an attack by the red head he was fighting and only receive a small slice on his nose. The blood trickled down over his flesh from the incision, but his entire world was spinning from the assault on his ears and the cut became a secondary worry. He could barely keep his balance, much less dodge to his full potential, so he was in some serious trouble if he didn't step up his game. He silently cursed to himself for agreeing to fight him against his better instincts.

The black haired boy dropped down to the floor on all fours, his palms pressed against the cool tile and shaking in an attempt to keep him steady. He had to focus on beating the person so that he could find Avrilina. He obviously knew how to fight, and he also knew how to open the boxes. That was a major advantage on Emil's behalf since Sakaki had no access to the boxes until the word was given to open them. He was more experienced in sword fighting, where Sakaki needed to land his fists on the man to do any damage. His odds were very bed indeed. It would take a miracle to get him out of this pickle.

Emil had darted closer, his long thin legs propelling him forward in a graceful fashion. The tips of his toes were the only thing that touched the ground as he moved, and just as he got close enough to slash at the boy, he leapt up and attempted to slam the side of his steel-toe boot into Sakaki's head. He was lucky enough to have the instincts to catch the blow, but it sent him to the ground. He smashed into the cold metal, and giving him no time to recover, the quick boy was upon him again. The ravenette rolled quickly from side to side to avoid the tip of his blade, and when he saw his chance, he swept his leg behind his knees, knocking Emil to his knees. He rose and raised his fist, but when he went to strike, the blue whale that he had forgotten about in the heat of the moment struck him with a massive blow from the tail and sent him flying into the wall.

The force from the attack must have been very harsh and the wall very weak to have made a gaping, human shaped hole where Sakaki had made contact with it. He flew through easily, and again, slammed into another object, knocking it down with a grunt from the both of them. He and the other person tumbled down and knocked over a third person just in time to avoid a large blast of flames. "Damnit Sakaki! I almost hit him! What are you doing here?"

Sakaki blinked and looked up to see Jean sprawled out on the ground under him, and Sen only a few inches away from them, trying to recover from being knocked down. He frowned, then got up shakily, trying to keep his balance. "I got knocked through the wall. Watch it." He shoved the shorter boy to the side quickly and ducked to avoid a large object that was flying towards them. The oversized tree frog looked normal, but when it opened its mouth, its tongue that was coated in electric flames shot out and lashed across Jean's face as he sat up, knocking him back again. Sakaki tried to assist him but his opponent had entered the room and began attacking him once more.

"Well take a looksie at this. Villanueva is here. Took you long enough." The red head turned his attention to the owner of the voice for a moment long enough to flip him off and continue fighting. Sakaki growled and grabbed the blade with his bare hands, causing him to cut himself before delivering a harsh punch to his opponent's face, knocking him back a few feet. The voice from before chuckled and grabbed the red head from before under his arms and held the wild boy back. "Take a chill pill, man." The boy gave a glare and slapped his hands off of his arms, and Avrilina's old thunder guardian gave a low hiss and went to snatch his arm once more. The old mist guardian, Kry stepped in to stop the brewing fight.

"Relax, you two. We have more…pressing matters to tend to. Kill each other later." The two boys, one with flaming red eyes and one with deep blue eyes, glared at each other, the sparks flying with the hatred between each other, but eventually reached out and shook hands in agreement.

On the side, the newest guardians watched the three older guardians squabble and make up. Jean glanced at his two comrades and spoke first. "We can take them, right?"

Sen looked around the room, trying to think of ways to escape them. "N-No…We can't…they're much more powerful, experienced, and have the rings and box weapons."

"We have our rings and box weapons too…"

"We can't use them until Avrilina tells us we can."

Jean's tongue darted out on his lips apprehensively and his eyes landed on the three once more. "…His personality is off…That's not him…He was much nicer when I met him…He'd never betray her…"

Sen nodded in agreement. "I agree…They would never cause harm to her in any way…"

"I've never met mine, but I'll go along with your assumptions…What's causing them to act so weird then…?"

"I'm not sure…We'll have to hold out until Avrilina contacts us though…"

"Are you sure she will?" Jean gave a grin and flicked out the switch blade in his pocket.

"Sure as swiss cheese!" The other two stared at him with dead panned expression, and Jean gave a soft sigh and rubbed his forehead. "Never mind…Watch your backs…"

* * *

"…The most important key is the Battle of the main force in Italy…Just behind it is the Espinoza's battle here in the Melone base." Irie explained to the Vongola. The red head looked troubled over the fact that the Espinoza family had to fight someone. His hand rested on his belly that was jumping around and knotting itself inside of him painfully, causing him to double over. "I don't like this at all…"

The Vongola family deadpanned, not worrying over the Espinozas winning a fight with their lead being Avrilina. "Stupid. You're so worried over nothing. No one can beat them at their own game."

"You don't get it! These people sent by Byakuran…They're not normal people!"

"The Espinoza family isn't exactly normal either…"

"You're not listening! These people ARE the Espinoza family!" A tense silence washed over the room and the bespectacled lad on the ground groaned again. "Well, in a sense of the word…Byakuran picked a special bunch of people and they've been trained by the three families that are in an alliance with him…Their main goal is to get the Espinoza rings from their holders. These seven people know every skill that Avrilina's old guardians knew, look exactly like them before they died, and have similar weapons! They even have mock Espinoza rings that look just like the real ones, only with weaker class flames! He sent them here to look for them after the run in with Gamma…They could be in serious trouble-" The whole ground floor rocked and vibrated with a familiar sensation, causing everyone to blink in surprise and look around.

"What the hell are you doing moving the blocks around? And how!? You haven't even activated it!" Gokudera barked from inside the glass prison he was still stuck in.

"I'm not doing this! What's the deal-"

Tsuna's headphones buzzed softly and a familiar voice came onto the wave length. He could practically see the scowl on the woman's tanned face. "This is Avrilina speaking. It's going to be a bumpy ride, hijos." The room shifted and groaned again. "Attention all Espinoza guardians: activate your rings immediately."

A happy cry came shortly after, but was followed by a cough of pain. "Haha! I knew you were alive, Avri!"

"Shut up Jean."

"You love me!"

"I'll kill you."

"H-How?! The doors only respond my handprint and only I can get in!" Irie said, completely baffled by the situation

"…She destroyed the doors…" A soft chuckle came from the Vongola Rain as the Vongola storm pressed his hand against his face in exasperation.

"The doors are made of the best materials though, and the sun flame factor- How?!"

"…A few inches of metal and sun flames won't stop an Espinoza woman, Irie…"

"B-But-"

"Tsuna?" She said, catching the boy's attention with her unusually icing sweet tone. "Could you be a doll and give Irie the headphones for a minute? I want to tell him something." _Oh god…_he thought as he handed the headphones to the red head…_That was terrifying…Poor Shouichi._

The boy gulped and pressed the headphones to his ears and spoke. "H-Hello…?"

"Oh goodie, Tsuna actually gave you the headphones," She chimed, her voice still sickeningly sweet.

"H-He did…"

"Shouichi~?" she purred softly, making him shiver in fright. "You wanna know what I'm going to do when I see you next?"

"N-No…"

"You should want to know~"

Oh god this woman was terrifying. This tone reminded him to the white haired demon he was too familiar with. "I-If you want to tell me-"

He was cut off by loud screaming that came in a jumbled waterfall of at least four different languages. Spanish, English, Japanese, Italian…Was that Russian? He didn't know, but everyone in the room could hear the angry woman screaming at him like a banshee. Only Gokudera could partially keep up with her, even he even got lost at one point and gave up trying to put her words together. Hell, she probably didn't even know half the words coming out of her mouth.

"…AND I HAD TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS BULLSHIT. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE TO GO DO NOW? FUCK YOU AND FUCK EVERYTHING YOU KNOW AND LOVE. YOU'RE DEAD IF I GET MY HANDS ON YOU." She screamed before ripping off the headphones and throwing them to someone else. Kim caught it with a sigh and put them in her pocket.

"My apologies…" she said softly into her pair of headphones, "But you deserved…whatever she said to you…This wasn't an experience I wanted to endure."

"It had to be done."

"If that's what you insist. We'll do our part, so relax…She's all worked up, so nothing against her is going to live through this experience. You should hold on tight though. The energy from the Espinoza rings activation is rumored to be…powerful."

At the moment, four of the real Espinoza guardians solved their rings, causing the first massive wave of energy to rock the building. As they slipped it on their fingers and ignited the flame, another wave of energy came that was stronger than the last. The people that had just regained their balance from the last wave were knocked to the ground once more.

"They'll be fine Shouichi. No energy on earth can compare to the Espinoza rings first activation."

* * *

Rossi snorted as she heard Avrilina's voice in her headphones, not liking the tone she used to order them around, but she was right. The only way she could win against this person was to utilize her ring and boxes. As she slipped on the ring, she felt a wave of energy tear through her body in a painful wave, making her hiss in pain at the burning sensation that was focused around her middle finger exactly where the ring was placed. She screeched in sudden pain, surprising her look-a-like opponent. He blinked in confusion as she clutched her hand, a place he hadn't inflicted any wounds on with strange, gear shaped cloud chakrams. Her visible eye was narrowed in determination and her breath labored as she stared at the ring. Tadeo wasn't sure how to react to her.

It gave Rossi just enough time to think of everything that mattered to her. Mukuro, Chrome, Ken, Chikusa…If she couldn't unlock the power of the ring on her finger, she couldn't protect them properly. The red head girl needed to protect them, even if it was with her life. A surge of willpower coursed through her veins and straight into the ring on her finger. The pure energy formed a large purple flame on the ring, and it felt as if her body was on fire. The purity of the flame was obvious and marked her on the map with what might as well have been a bulls eye.

Avrilina noted it on the Melone base map with a small smirk. Soon after, three high purity flames concentrated in one room showed up, and lastly, a room halfway across the map appeared. "Alright Kim…Hold on…"

"Huh- Oh my!"

Avrilina hadn't wasted time in maneuvering the Melone base as she saw fit. The blocks shook and shifted, throwing the people within them off balance. Her fingers danced over the controls, her green eyes narrowed as she watched the squares move about. In only a few minutes, she had the cubes that were at polar opposite ends of the area together in a neat flat area that was just outside the doors that she had destroyed. She scoffed at the puzzle, as if it was inferior to her in every way, and removed her ring from the box nearby.

"Alright Kim…Are you done with the ring?"

"Hold on…I'm not good at puzzles…" the little Asian said as she continued to tinker with the interlocking rings. She knew how to solve it, it was just being difficult. Her lips pressed into a thin line, but the faint click of the rings landing in the right place brought them up in the faintest of victorious smirks. It was instantly blown away as the energy was released from it as she slid it on her finger. Her hair fluttered away from her face and her face contorted into a snarl of pain from the burning, prickling sensation around her ring finger. "Is this supposed to happen?" she gasped out, "It feels like my finger is being burned off."

"Yeah…Find your will, and form it into the flame like you've been learning, then it'll stop."

Kim nodded and closed her eyes tightly, trying to focus on something other than the pain on her finger. It was a difficult task, but her deepest wishes began to bubble to the surface. She wanted to be stronger to protect her new family. She wasn't strong enough in the past to protect her mother from being killed two years ago, and she didn't want the same fate to happen to the Espinoza family that she was now forever intertwined with. Too many were people close to her had been snatched out of her hands because she couldn't manage to protect them.

The flame ignited as she got lost in her deep thoughts, and she didn't know that her pain had been relieved and that her posture had slackened just a bit as her eyes slid shut. Her breathing began to slow and deepen as she began to relax more and more. After a moment of tentative silence from the two, Kim's eyes slid open. The normally honey colored irises were coated in a thin glossy layer of red that seemed to flickered and pulsed as the identically colored flames on her ring did. Avrilina, who had been holding her breath in a rigid posture, relaxed slightly and flicked her bloodied hair out of her face.

"…Good job…Come on." Kim nodded and took her box weapons out of her pockets and clutched them tightly in her small fingers. Avrilina took a deep breath and cracked her knuckles, readying her fists, and with her hand ignited in flickering orange flames, she slammed it into the side of the wall, busting a massive hole in the petrified metal. Behind her, Kim remained unbothered, per usual, and followed her boss through the hole and into the room with the other guardians that were waiting. Jean must have not been able to contain his excitement and opened the box without waiting for Avrilina's approval. A saber was in his hands, each electrified with the flames. It was broad and curved, much like a cutlass, but a deadly point jutted up out the back, making the blade resemble a large lightning bolt in Jean's scarred grip. He glanced back at her, his eyes covered in a green sheen similar to the ring on his hand. Avrilina raised a brow silently, but dismissed his grin and turned to the others.

They had all made it to the stadium that she had set up, Rossi and Gabriel, who had managed to get separated from the group were on the opposite side of the room, but their eyes were glossed with the color of their dying will flames. All Seven of their opponents were there too, including the ninth generation Espinoza boss's look alike, who was no unsure, and almost frightened of the group of teenagers before her. The tenth Espinoza's lips curved up into a wicked, toothy grin as her ring ignited. The six smaller stones on each side that represented her guardian's flames were gleaming mischievously, and with each passing moment, the quantity of flames rose and her eyes were coated in a soft orange color. "Kill them all," she sneered as her fingers arched like claws in her flame covered hands.

* * *

This was a pretty long chapter! And a lot happened! The Melone base arc will be ending soon, then it's back to the fluff for a little while!

Anyway, I got my muse and drew a few reference pictures, One of Avrilina, her halberd, and the box weapon boxes, one of Kim, and one of Rossi. If you'd like to see them, pimpin- waffle . deviantart this is my deviant art page. Leave some comments if you like or dislike the design, of if you have any suggestions how you imagined these characters to look.

Anyway, question time. Of all the ancestors, Espinoza or Vongola, who do you like the best and why? Leave a comment or message me if you want to answer~

I'm trying my best to get a second update out this week and introduce a few characters I've been itching to introduce for a while, but with Christmas and all, it's going to be difficult. So I hope you guys get everything for Christmas, Hanukah, or any other holiday that I am unaware of, and have a safe and happy time! I'd totally love to see a ton of reviews and fan art from you beautiful people; That would be such a lovely gift!

Thank you so much for following me for so long! Until next time, my dears~


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Let's Make Sweet Music Together**

"Sir?"

Byakuran's sly lavender eyes looked up from the bag of marshmallows on his desk below and at the man in front of him. He gave a soft, curious 'hmm?' to urge the white spell member to continue. "A-All of the Espinoza ring replacements are destroyed…" The young Millefiore leader's lips wrapped around one of the soft sugar pillows and chewed, not taking his eyes off the young man. "…A-And their holder's pulse monitors went flat…"

"That's unfortunate," the pale man cooed softly once he swallowed, "What of the real Espinoza family and rings?"

"We've gotten a large, unidentified source of high class flames in a concentrated area…The probability that they are indeed the Espinoza rings is very high…"

"Someone should go retrieve them~"

"That's the problem sir…" the man murmured as he twiddled with the paper on his clipboard," The replacements were supposed to be the ones retrieving them…but they're gone…"

"Don't worry about that, Vin-chan," he chuckled as his fingers crawled across the smooth wood surface of his desktop. They gently took a small, square box and eased it to his hand so he could open it. The appendages plucked the contents of the ring out, and he held the glittering ring between them for Vincent, the man that had delivered the news, to see. The heavy gold band was thick and simple, but one large, orange stone sad in the middle and curved with the ring, the facets catching the light as it as Byakuran examined it idly. Printed on both sides in large, raised letters, was the name 'GALLACHER'. "I've got someone who will do the job better then these stupid family heads ever did~"

* * *

Sakaki's world changed from the silvery walls of one he was unfamiliar with. Everything was a soft blue glow that resembled the flame of the ring he was dying to solve. Had he passed out? Been hit and knocked out? Or was this an illusion?

A soft tap on his shoulder grabbed his attention, and he was met with the very eyes of the person who was trying to kill him moments ago. Everything about him was different though. Those wild qualities of the one he faced as he was fighting were washed away, and there didn't seem to be an angry bone in his body. He seemed very loose and relaxed with his posture, almost like the rain flame he possessed. His red eyes stared down at him for a moment before a soft smile drifted across his thin, pale lips. He held his hand out, his smile not wavering as Sakaki's fingers wrapped around his palm and shook slightly. Emil grabbed his hand and placed a tiny, soft piece of cloth in Sakaki's palm before wrapping his successor's fingers around it and staring him down. Those red eyes told him that what he held was very crucial in figuring out what he wanted to know. The dark haired boy gave a nod and placed the parcel in his pocket and drew out his disassembled ring.

Emil eyed it, his posture tensing up at the mere sight of the gold rings. His teeth sank into his bottom lip, and his hands, now quivering a bit, reached into the pocket of his jacket and drew out his own. He held it away from him as if it was a dead rat instead of jewelry. Sakaki narrowed his eyes in confusion at his reaction to the ring, not sure why he was acting in such a way when only a minute ago, he was clam and content.

Without waiting for him, Emil started to solve it, his fingers turning and clicking the tiny rings together. Sakaki could barely keep up with him with how fast his fingers were. As soon as the metal pieces fit together, Emil closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment until a tiny, blue flame lit up the tip. It was barely noticeable, and after it was ignited, the boy threw his ring into the darkness and out of sight. Sakaki opened his mouth to protest, but his sharp ears caught the soft rolling of something just to the side. Emil's expression turned to distress as the fully solved ring rolled towards him in a wobbly fashion. The gold band thumped against his foot and finally, fell on its side. He picked it up and shoved it back in his pocket in sadness, like that of a caged bird.

_Not even death can free you from this fate…_

* * *

It had been a tense few minutes before a familiar voice came back onto the Vongola headphones. "Five minutes, thirteen seconds. My guardians are experiencing the side effects of deactivating the Espinoza rings for the first time and are incapacitated, and I feel like I got hit by a car. Come. Get. Us." Avrilina punctuated her last three words with a throaty growl. She shoved her headphones in her pocket, not feeling like arguing with her peers on the other side. Her green eyes landed on her guardians on the ground.

All of them were passed out on the ground, their chests heaving with exhaustion. She watched them for a moment and sighed before plopping down on the ground herself. She was telling the truth when she said she felt like she had been hit by a car. Her first fight had taken her off guard, and her fear had gotten the better of her and made her weak and useless. The second time she had gotten a bit better, but still trembled at the sight of the woman. It was only after she realized it was a fake and not the real one that she was able to take control of her senses and release her sudden rush of rage on the one that injured her. She couldn't stop at just one though, and soon, all of them were dead. A growl left her lips and her fingers instinctively brushed Jean's cheek gently. "They got what they deserved," she mumbled out.

There was a soft rustle from the side of the room, and Avrilina's hand flew to her box and opened the one closest to her, releasing her golden halberd that she grasped tightly in her hands. She rose on her wobbly, blood stained legs and trekked over to the person, her eyes gold slits of green. The man's breath came out labored, and his once pure white uniform was stained with his and his comrades blood. Her lips only drew into a deeper scowl as she watched the red head twitch and try to flee from her. "Pathetic," she scoffed out as she stabbed the into the sharp tip of her halberd into the ground by his throat, trapping him between the pole and the massive blade, "You're impersonating someone very near and dear to my heart. I don't appreciate you trying to be Emil." The boy's hands wrapped around the pole, and with a hiss of annoyance, she kicked his hand off of it, breaking his fingers and making him squirm in pain, unable to scream. "You may have his appearance, but you will never have his heart." Her ring lit up with a lively fire. "I will never let his name be so easily tarnished by a pathetic little creature such as you."

She pressed her ring into the storm port on her halberd, releasing the blade hidden inside. She clutched the red flame coated weapon tightly, and raised her arm, ready to end him. She had to pause and look at him intently, drinking in those familiar, all too welcoming features as he writhed in distress on the floor. Her hand bounced slightly back and forth as she tried to summon up the will to end his life. With a loud wail of annoyance, she tossed her weapons to the side and crawled on top of the weak boy. He struggled against her strong grasp, but she managed to pin his hands to the side as she grabbed his throat in annoyance. "Why is this so difficult?!" She hissed as she tightened her grip, making him cough with the pressure. "You aren't him! YOU AREN'T HIM!"

Her grip continued to tighten gradually, making his face turn a sickly shade of blue. He was beginning to lose consciousness, but just before he blacked out, there was relief, and he drew in a deep breath and he wheezed and sputtered in an attempt to suck in as much air as he could. She stood, her hands tight fists at her sides as she shook, trying to contain the few little tears that dripped from her narrowed eyes. "Leave…" she mumbled softly, but when he didn't immediately get up and try to run, her foot flew into his back, sending him towards the hole in the wall she made. "LEAVE!" She screeched. She began to advance on him, as If she had changed her mind, but when he stumbled up to his feet and ran through the hole, she stopped and rubbed her wet eyes. "Fuck…I couldn't…This isn't good…"

Her vision swam, and she stumbled to get back to her six guardians, the tears and disgust with herself making her head pound against her skull with the beginning of a painful migraine. She fell to her knees in the middle of them, her hands cradling her tender head. Everything was just too difficult in this time..She wanted to go back where she didn't have so many people trying to kill her and her family.

A sudden, familiar scent wafted past her nose, and she lifted her head slightly to try to find the source of the scent. She smelled the unpleasant odor of smoke, both from gunpowder and cigarettes, but there was an underlying warmth to it, something she couldn't place. Fire? Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Who the hell would be smoking and cooking here of all places? Her tired eyes fell to her arms. Under her once orange, but now red with blood, vest, there was a familiar purple and black jacket, one she had been careful not to stain. The owner would fuss at her at how it was hard to clean blood out of light cloth. She pressed her nose to the sleeve and gave a soft sniff. That was the source: the jacket. Her tense posture relaxed slightly as she allowed herself to relax with a different scent other then the metallic one of blood. She began to slacken her posture until she was no longer supporting herself and she tumbled to the floor, curled up in a slight fetal position with her arms near her face, providing her with the warmth of the smell. Eventually, her eyes slid shut and she drifted off with her lips slightly parted and her even, deep breaths ruffling her wild, bloody chestnut locks of hair.

* * *

"_It's strange here. A few years ago, these boxes that contain animals and weapons would have been something out of a sci-fi movie. Byakuran's threat would have been brushed off like dirt. It would be more simple. Nothing is the same in this time anymore."_

"_What's it like to have a father, Yamamoto? My own wasn't there for long, so I don't remember much about our relationship or any good time we may or may not have had. I bet it couldn't compare to yours though. You were always so happy with him all the time…I wish I could have had something like that in high school…"_

"_There's bad news and good news…The good news is that we finished the mission in Spain. The bad news is that we all got a little scuffed up. Those families…Gallacher…Florentin…Amsel…They're getting more aggressive. Sakaki got injured on his face in a surprise attack, but he can still see. Gabriel healed him, but he will have scars. This threat needs to be taken care of, and quickly, before there are more than just scars…"_

Yamamoto flipped through the journal, skimming the three pages with the shortest entries. He had replied, but his interest wasn't in his replies. There was nowhere in the book where the owner's names were listed, but he had narrowed it down to one of the Espinozas, and it wasn't Sakaki. He pursed his lips together and closed the book gently, careful not to bend the pages as he did. The book was precious to him and the owner in the future, and harming it would make them unhappy. He ran a hand through his dark in slight frustration that he couldn't figure out the person he was writing to, but figured that a break from the mystery couldn't hurt him. His long, lean legs swung over the side of his cot, and he stretched one long arm over his head, giving a slight groan as he did. After about eighteen hours, the Spanish family residing with them seemed to get better, and judging from the screams of both the hot headed Europeans in the hall, some were even beginning to stir.

"Idiota! I know what is best for my guardians!"

"And I am trying to keep the tenth safe!"

"This WILL keep him safe! I need to get them out of here!"

Yamamoto leaned against his door, eavesdropping on the two's loud conversation. Avrilina's growls of annoyance were slowly getting higher in pitch as her distress was beginning to bubble to the surface.

"These rings are like bull's-eyes! They have such a high purity and output right now that it could be seen by the shittiest of tracking equipment! There could be someone out there right now looking for the source! This place isn't safe with us here!"

"The tenth was clear with what he wanted! Your family is to stay here and recover! Most of your guardians aren't even awake! How are you going to protect yourself against a mafia without them?!"

"I don't know! Its better than leaving the location to this place wide open!"

"We're not weak! Anything that comes our way, we can take!"

"They aren't normal people!"

"We can still take them!"

The baseball player decided it was best to step in now before the whole base caught wind of the argument. His door opened and with a soft chuckle of amusement, the boy clasped each of their shoulders gently. "Maa Maa. I can hear you from my room-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"GO AWAY, BASEBALL FREAK!"

Both of the angry people yelled at him, making him pause in surprise and stare at them. Their green glaring eyes were trained on him, obviously still worked up from their verbal scuffle. Avrilina's hand grasped Yamamoto's, and with a rough squeeze, she yanked it off of her and stalked away, grumbling in angry Spanish. Gokudera hissed softly in annoyance, and went to pursue her to try to talk some sense into her, but was stopped by a tight, but not painful grip on his shoulder. He glanced up at the Vongola Rain Guardian, and his lips pulled into a scowl.

"What? She's going to do something stupid!"

"You care about her now? What a great advancement, Gokudera!"

The Storm Guardian blinked, then smacked his hand away, his attention now taken away from the girl he was intent on pursuing earlier. "Of course I don't care for her! She could possibly injure the tenth with her antics!"

He chuckled and jerked his head slightly towards the kitchen. A lovely smell was wafting down the hallway and making both of the boys hungry. "I think Kyoko and Haru are cooking. Let's go get something to eat before it's all gone. I bet Tsuna will be there too!" At the mere mention of his boss's name, Gokudera perked up a bit and trotted down the hall like a puppy. Yamamoto grinned at how easy it was to distract the half Italian from something with the mere mention of Tsuna. He didn't immediately follow, but when his belly grumbled and commanded him to go get some food, he complied happily and raced down the hall, his experienced legs pushing him along quickly to his destination.

* * *

"Chrome…" Rossi said suddenly, startling the purple haired girl. She blinked her visible eye, and locked hers with Rossi's single eye. "You're recovering, so eat. You'll get even weaker if you don't." She stayed silent as her pale fingers plucked at her white night dress and her eyes fell downward. Rossi watched her like a hawk, then sighed and got up, her hands in her pockets. Her shawl was dangling off her shoulders and swinging with her hips as she made her way to the door where the tray of food was placed just outside. With the tray in hand, she plopped her rear on the bed near Chrome, efficiently surprising her and making her jump slightly. In the red head's hand was a spoon filled with the rice the Namimori girls had made for her. "I don't really like doing this, but you're sick, so I'll do it anyway. Open your mouth and take a bite."

Chrome hesitated, her lips trembling, but she complied and they parted, accepting the bite of food as Rossi placed the spoon in her mouth. "There. Is it good?" The purple haired girl chewed slowly, as if she was deciding whether it was edible or not, and gave a nod after she swallowed.

"You can have some too…" she murmured in her soft voice. Rossi eyed it, then gave a slight shrug and took a bite herself, not bothering to switch spoons.

"Yeah…It's fine…Nicest meal I've had in a while. Avrilina lets us feed ourselves most of the time, and eating with the others isn't my thing either…" She held another spoonful of food out to Chrome, who stared at it as she did before, her lips trembling once more. "Come on. Do it again or feed yourself." After a moment of silence, Rossi began to lower the spoon, a little exasperated with her stubbornness to accept help, even from her, but a gentle touch around the hand that held the spoon made her glance back up again. Both of the smaller girl's hands were wrapped around her wrist and pulling Rossi's up to her face so she could eat off the spoon again and please her. The ghost of a soft smile crossed her lips, and she let her pull the utensil up and eat. "There…Better."

* * *

The day had been peaceful, but unbearably long for the Espinoza boss as she relaxed in her room a few hours after she was supposed to be asleep, unlike the rest of the family members, who were in such deep slumber that a nuclear attack outside wouldn't make them stir. Her back was pressed against the wall, a blanket draped over her shoulders to keep her warm. Underneath, she wore a thin, black tank top that hugged her athletic figure, and showed her scarred arms. Her chest rose up and down with as she breathed, and her fingers ghosted across the dark instrument in her lap. She just bought this thing, yet, here it was in her lap, worn with use and age. It was strange being in the future, and it wasn't something she liked. Her green eyes travelled over the strings, and instinctively, she plucked out a few soft notes. It was perfectly tuned and ready to play.

She gave a sigh, and her fingers strummed a familiar, fast paced melody that she learned to play long ago. Each note followed each other in a quick, steady beat, as if the player was angry, but there was a soft tone behind it, almost as if she was longing. The beat began to slow down slightly as she pondered the universe, but with a growl, she picked up the pace, and the tone took a turn away from its softness and became sharp and aggressive while still retaining its beauty. She became so focused on her task, that she was unaware that her fingers were making such quick movements, that it seemed inhuman how quickly the notes followed each other while still staying smooth.

The melody drifted up into the air and through the vent that provided circulation through the facility. Everyone else was asleep, but a certain hotheaded bomber was awake and his sharp senses picked up on. Not recognizing that anyone else in the facility had musical skill with a guitar, he worried for a moment about the safety of the tenth, and nearly burst out of bed to check on him, but he heard the distinctly Spanish style, and remembering that she had bought a guitar before the whole time travelling fiasco, he relaxed a bit. His eyes close as he listened to the music, but the longer he did, the more he realized that even though the notes were coming in barrages, there was something lacking from it. It bothered him deeply to the point where he scoffed and rose out of bed just to fix the imbalance.

He headed towards the room that housed the piano that he had a deep connection with, her song still echoing in his ears and in the vents. He took his place on the bench and his fingers waited until he found the perfect spot to dive in. And he waited…and waited…and waited some more…but it was clear she did not leave him any openings in the music for him to join, and with a low growl of annoyance, he just jumped in when he lost his patience with her.

His music was much more delicate sounding then hers, but was deeper, more sophisticated, as it drifted from the piano and met her ears in her room. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, and she looked up from the piano and up at the vents where the sound was coming from, the melody so deeply ingrained in her memory that she knew how to play without even looking at the strings. She wasn't aware that anyone could play the piano, than she remembered Haru's words as she bought the instrument she played.

"_Hahi! Gokudera can play an instrument too! Haru thinks it's the piano…maybe that's not right…"_

Her green eyes rolled as he jumped in so quickly, but was pleasantly surprised that he could keep up with her pace and still sound slow at the same time. A hum of indifference vibrated in her throat as they continued with the only voluntary bonding time that lasted more than twenty seconds they shared since they met, but all too soon, their songs began to slow, but not before the guitarist got her final, wordless, but still snappy remark. Her fingers flew across the strings and plucked the notes so fast that it was almost incomprehensible, and silenced the guitar and got up and slipped on her jacket, knowing full well he'd come confront her over it, but she wouldn't be In her room for his yelling. She didn't want to deal with it, and took off for the small library the Vongola HQ housed.

Hot in pursuit not too far away was Gokudera, but being the intelligent young lad he was, he knew she wouldn't stay in her room, and went towards the next quietest place; the library.

The two met in front, and Avrilina blinked her brighter green eyes at his foresight. He eyed her with his stormy olive colored orbs, then flicked his head to tell her to get in, and with a roll of her eyes, she walked in, the orange jacket she wore hanging loosely off one shoulder. He followed her in pursuit, and he shut the door behind them.

* * *

Tsuna woke up that morning, and he wasn't greeted with the usual sight of his Storm Guardian's bright smile as he wished him a good morning and tried to cater to his every whim, despite the brunette's protests, and that threw an immediate alarm bell off in his head. Gokudera was always here due to his pledge to being his right hand man. The Vongola head quickly got dressed and walked out, concerned about his friend. He didn't have far to go before he ran smack into another person, almost successfully knocking him down too. "Ah! I'm sorry!"

"Tuna! Just the guy I'm looking for!" His expression deadpanned as the quirky Espinoza Lightning guardian greeted him with the wrong name. "Guess what? I woke up, and Avrilina wasn't there! Last time I woke up and she wasn't there, I found her covered in blood the next time, you have to help me look for her!"

"I-I actually was looking for someone too…"

"So we're on the same side already! Great!" He didn't bother to ask for who he was looking for, his focus being on Avrilina, but soon, his squawking got the attention of the room nearby, being Yamamoto and Kim.

"Jean…You're very loud…"

"What's all this about? A hide and go seek game? How fun!"

"No! Not a game; we have to find Avrilina!"

"And Gokudera," Tsuna chimed in so they would help him look for Gokudera.

"Knowing those two," came a third, distinctly male voice," They'd probably be trying to strange each other in the training rooms. Try there first."

"Gabriel! Come help us!"

"Sorry, Jean, but Haru asked me to help her cook this morning, and I agreed to help. Avrilina can take care of herself, but if my theory is right, do come get me so I can fix them up." The brunette walked by, his eyes not leaving the biology book in his hand, but as he passed, Tsuna noticed that it contained ways to butcher and cook the animals it was describing, and his face went a little pale in reaction.

"Alright Tuna! Let's go find them!"

"T-That's not my name-"

"This was!"

With a sigh, he gave up trying to convince him what his real name was, and followed Jean, Yamamoto and Kim behind them. Everywhere they looked, there was nothing. The training room was empty and blood free, the kitchen was occupied by the doctor and Haru, who were busily cooking away something that smelled fantastic, and even the planning room was nice and neat. They were nowhere to be seen.

"Wow! They're really good at this game!"

Jean ran a hand through his short hair in frustration; he may have been joking a bit before when he was talking about his reasons for finding Avrilina, but he was beginning to get worried. "This isn't a game-"

"Ciaossu!"

Jean's expression turned hopeful as he locked gazed with the baby standing in front of a door with the ghost of a smirk on his lips. "Oh yes! Why didn't I ask you before? You know everything!" Jean plucked him up gently, both hands around his body and holding him up as he stared at him with a pleading, puppy dog eyes on. "Where's Avrilina?"

"And-"

"Don't care, Tuna. Avrilina?"

"They're both here." His finger pointed to the door, and Jean nearly dropped him in anticipation, and his hand went to the knob quickly and was getting ready to turn it when a foot connected with his knuckle, making him withdraw it and cradle it against his chest with a pained yelp. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Quiet when you open it or you'll disturb them." With that, Reborn hopped down from his hands, making sure to Harass Tsuna on his way out, and left.

Jean frowned angrily as he rubbed his knuckles. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like it means…not a peep." Yamamoto's tan hand playfully rose one finger to his lips to signal his silence, and, quiet as a mouse, Kim eased the door open after addressing Jean. A thin beam of white shone in, and they could see the silhouette of two people in the room. Their short hair was messed up, and they looked like a wreak as they laid sprawled across the table tiredly as they slept. There were a couple of board games, from scrabble and chess to Candyland and Mousetrap, and even a few word puzzles and other entertainment devices all around. They were sound asleep though, perfectly peaceful with each other's presence as they dozed.

"Wow…they can stay in a room together without trying to kill each other…"

"Shows what you can learn…"

Satisfied with their findings, Yamamoto left with Kim, his expressions animated and his face lit up with a grin as Kim watched him passively, and Tsuna went to seek out Reborn or Kyoko, but Jean stayed behind, his eys wandering the room. He spied a white board with some tally marks all over it, and with a sly grin, he grabbed it, and the marker attached and quickly scribbled his message on it, plopped it back into place, and went along his day, happy as a clam.

* * *

Gokudera heard the squeak of the door and the light shone in his face slightly, but it didn't faze him, but after a moment too long of disturbance, he opened his eyes and glanced down at the white board that kept Avrilina's scores, but, there were no tally marks anymore, and their names weren't even on it. Instead, underlined as the top of the board was 'Jean' in bold print, and right under it, were the words 'over 9000!'. The bomber groaned and threw the board away before nuzzling back into his arms and drifting back to sleep, not even caring who he was sleeping so close to anymore.

* * *

h.(t)(t)(p) : / www . youtube .c.o.m / watch?v=fwZyrflLMlA That's the link to a song that sounds like what Gokudera and Avrilina were playing together, if you'd like to listen. Just be sure to take out the spaces, extra periods and paraentheses.

To Jean's Creator: I seem to have lost his profile somehow. Could you perhaps message me again with it? Or reply to the same message his profile is on so it appears at the top of the page. Thank you~

Ahaha, long leave I had there, huh? Well, I got pretty sick, and missed a lot of school, so the work piled up and I had to take a writing break for a little while. Also, I hit a major writer's block wall. I think I've gotten over it though...

The next chapter or two is probably going to be a bit more fluff then usual, sp look forward to that, and tell me what pairing or character you'd like to see more of, and I'll put more in!

Question time~ And I have two!

One: The Vongola have the motorcycles to ride on during Choice, so what should the Espinoza's transportation be?

Two: You have been transported into the KHR world, and you meet your favorite OC in rebuild! What would you want to ask/tell them?

Anyway, thank you all for continuing to follow this story~ Comments? Questions? Hit me up with them and I'll try my best to answer you~!


End file.
